riass u,::~:i 

Book 

GpightW. 

COPYRIGHT DEFOSm 




Designed by DORE 



THE CRUCIFIXION 




TAR^BETHLEHEM 



GR THE 



HEAVENLY DAWN 

EMBRACING THE LIFE OF 

Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 



AND THE 



LIVES OF THE HOLY APOSTLES AND EVANGELISTS 



BY 

Rev. John Fleetwood, D.D. 

TOGETHER WITH THE 

LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS AND OF THE MOST EMINENT 
CHRISTIAN MARTYRS, FATHERS AND REFORMERS, 

TO WHICH IS ADDED 

THE HISTORY OF THE JEJS 

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES. / - c O^ YRIG HT^ 
ALSO A 

CHRONOLOGICAL TABL 

SHOWING THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS OF JEWISH AND CONTEMPORANEOUS 
HISTORY FROM THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. 



EMBELLISHED WITH MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED FINE 
ENGRAVINGS AND SUPERB ILLUMINATED PLATES. 




NATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
Philadelphia, Pa. ; Chicago, III., and St. Louis, Mo. 




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1 889, by 
T. R. JONES, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



Entered according to Act^of Congress, in the year 1890, by 
J. R. JONES, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 




PEEF ACE. 



This peerless volumejs the crowning success of all efforts 
to furnish a Life of Christ that is worthy of its great 
theme. It is the fruit of vast research, unlimited resources, 
and brilliant scholarship. 

There is a constant demand for a faithful record of the 
birth, early life, public ministry, beautiful parables and 
thrilling miracles of Christ. In this superb work the fas- 
cinating story is told with such graphic power that young 
persons are interested, while there is such lofty thought, and 
glowing description, that the most cultured minds are en- 
lightened and charmed. 

The work begins with the birth of Jesus, and those very 
interesting scenes which surround his advent. The reader 
hears the angels singing to the shepherds of Bethlehem, and 
sees the Child Wonderful in the lowly manger, the adoring 
sages bringing their costly gifts, and the swift flight into 
Egypt to escape the murderous decree of Herod. The 
massacre of the infants of Bethlehem ; the birth of that 
mighty prophet, John the Baptist ; the death of Herod ; the 
return of Joseph and Mary from Egypt, and the interesting 
scene when the youthful Nazarene disputes with the learned 
Doctors in the Temple, are thrilling incidents connected 
with the early life of Christ, and are fully depicted in 
" Star of Bethlehem." 

The striking events in his public ministry are described 
with a masterly hand. The reader stands on the banks of 
the Jordan and witnesses his baptism by John, and the de- 
scent of the Spirit in the form of a dove ; then his terrible 

(v) 



vi 



PREFACE. 



temptation in the wilderness, and victory over the powers 
of darkness ; and afterward the first miracle which showed 
his divine power, the expulsion of the money-changers from 
the Temple, the remarkable discourse at Jacob's well to the 
poor Samaritan woman, and the healing of the sick at Ca- 
pernaum. The interest grows at every step as the striking 
scenes are unfolded — such as the delivery of the famous 
sermon on the mount ; the curing of all forms of disease ; 
the rebuke of the winds and waves on the stormy Sea of 
Galilee; the calling of the rugged fishermen to be Apostles, 
and those beneficent acts, astonishing miracles, and deeds 
of mercy which displayed a love and sympathy no less mar- 
velous than the acts of his omnipotence. 

Such teachings of Christ as the Golden Rule, the parable 
of the Good Samaritan, the pathetic story of the Prodigal 
Son, are both familiar and dear to the heart of the world. 
The words of the Great Teacher have affected human cus- 
toms, laws, civilization, and have given character to nations. 
To unfold the meaning of the marvelous teachings is one 
of the main objects of this great work, and forms one of its 
most attractive features. The reader hears the lips that 
spake as never man spake repeating the words which have 
enlightened, cheered and blessed the world since the Heav- 
enly Dawn of Christianity. No work ever before published 
has equalled this in gems of thought ; the rich and beauti- 
ful meaning delights the reader, and makes the Sublime 
Gospel story as captivating as if told for the first time. 

" Star of Bethlehem " presents a most attractive and 
thrilling panorama of the closing scenes in the Life of Christ. 
You behold him in the crowded streets of Jerusalem ; at the 
little village of Bethany ; agonizing in the Garden of Geth- 
semane; seized by his enemies and condemned by Pilate; 
bearing his cross on the way to Golgotha; and wearing the 
crown of thorns. In startling pen pictures the awful scenes 
of the crucifixion are depicted, and these are followed by 
the rending of the tomb and sublime Ascension. It would 



PREFACE 



vii 



not be possible for human pen to pro tray more vividly those 
majestic events, at once awful and fascinating, which form 
the closing part of Christ's life upon earth. There are sin- 
gle chapters in this unrivalled work which contain more to 
interest and instruct than many whole volumes. It is uni- 
versally regarded as the most fascinating and valuable work 
upon this grand subject. 

After an eloquent review of the life and doctrines of 
Christ, this part of the work closes with a brilliant state- 
ment of the nature of the Christian religion, the truths and 
principles it teaches, and its grand effects upon the indi- 
vidual, the home and the nation. 

The " Life of Christ," comprehensive as it is, is only one 
part of this captivating volume. It is followed with the 
" Lives of the Apostles and Holy Women." These are 
graphic histories of those great characters of the Eible which 
surpass the loftiest creations of fiction. The reader is made 
acquainted with all the apostles, those valiant heroes and 
martyrs, " of whom the world was not worthy." Peter, 
James, John, Luke, Mark, Paul, and many others renowned 
in the glowing annals of the early church, with such devoted 
women as the Virgin Mother, Mary Magdalene and Mary, 
the sister of Lazarus, are pictured in a manner worthy of 
their renown. 

The next part of " Star of Bethlehem " contains fascin- 
ating descriptions of " Old Testament Characters." From 
Adam to Daniel, including Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Ruth, 
Samson, David, Solomon, and many others, there are new 
surprises and entrancing discoveries at every step. Pathetic 
scenes, fierce battles and memorable victories, pass in rapid 
succession before the eye of the reader. Nothing is omitted 
that can furnish instruction and delight, and give absorbing 
interest to the Bible story. 

The work would be incomplete did it fail to trace the 
spread of Christianity from the days of the apostles to the 
modern era. This is done in a series of Biographies of the 



PREFACE, 



" Early Christian Martyrs, Fathers, and Reformers," em- 
bracing a period from St. John to the Reformation, and 
showing how the truth was witnessed by these noble men. 

No religious work, so full and comprehensive, and rang- 
ing over so wide a field, has ever been offered to the American 
people. Its high character is guaranteed by the fact that 
apart from the efforts of Fleetwood and the Editor, the book 
is the sum of the learned labors and researches of the most 
distinguished Biblical writers of the world, namely, Dr. 
William Smith, Dean Alford, Dr. Bevan, the Bishop of Ely, 
Dean Farrar, Dean Mil man, Dr. Browne, Mr. Layard, Dr. 
Milner, Prof. Marks and others, whose names are a sufficient 
endorsement of the work. 

One of the great merits of this work is that it comprises, 
in one large volume, information which heretofore could only 
be obtained by perusing a large number of books. It is 
therefore in itself a complete library of religious literature. 
Nothing necessary to a full understanding of the truths of 
revealed religion has been omitted, and care has been taken 
not to burden the reader with matters merely speculative in 
their character. 

This work will be found especially valuable to parents 
and others desiring to instruct the young in the truths of 
religion. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Presage of the Birth of Christ — Prediction of the Birth of John the Baptist-* 
Salutation of the blessed Virgin by the Angel — Visitation of the Virgin 
Mary to Elizabeth — Birth of the Baptist..... .,.....„ 11 

CHAPTER II. 

General Decree for taxation published — Birth of Christ — Declaration of the 
same to the shepherds — Circumcision and presentation of Christ in the 
temple — The wise men of the East worship the Holy Child — Flight of Jo- 
seph into Egypt — Massacre of the infants at Bethlehem — Death of Herod- 
Return of Joseph out of Egypt 27 

CHAPTER III. 

State of our Lord's childhood and private life — His argument with the Jew- 
. ish doctors — Mission, character, and doctrine of the Baptist— Baptism of 
Christ, and visible descent of the Spirit on that solemnity 39 

CHAPTER IV. 

Commencement of our Saviour's ministry — His temptation in the wilderness 
— Deputation of the Sanhedrim to John the Baptist— First miracle wrought 
by the blessed Jesus 0 ...., 4.Q 

CHAPTER V. 

Expulsion of the profaners of the temple — Jesus visits and disputes with 
Nicodemus — Baptizes in Judea — Instructs a poor Samaritan — Heals a sick 
person at Capernaum — Retires again to Nazareth, and is expelled thence 
by his impious countrymen 55 

CHAPTER VI. 

Our Lord proceeds to Capernaum — Adds to the number of his followers- 
Proclaims the gospel in Galilee — Preaches to a numerous audience his well 
known and excellent discourse upon the mount.*. 70 



[0 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Onr blessed Lord cures tlie leprosy and palsy — Casts out a devil — Succors 



the mother-in-law of Peter; and afterwards pursues his journey through 
the country of Galilee 83 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Jesus confirms his mission by producing a miraculous draught of fishes- 
Curing the leprosy a second time — Appeasing the boisterous waves — Cast- 
ing devils out of divers persons grievously possessed S9 



CHAPTER IX. 

Our Lord proceeds in acts of mercy and benevolence — Adds Matthew to the 
number of his disciples — Casts out an evil spirit — Passes again through 
Galilee — Selects twelve from among his disciples, as his constant followers 
and companions, and harangues the multitude in an excellent discourse... 99 

CHAPTER X. 

Continuation of our Lord's glorious doctrines, beneficent acts, and astonish- 
ing miracles wrought in confirmation of the divinity of his mission, and 



the extending of his heavenly kingdom Ill 

CHAPTER XI. 

The character of John the Baptist cleared and justified by the blessed Jesus- 
Display of our Lord's humility and condescension, by conforming to the 
custom of the age and the place where he lived 115 

CHAPTER XII. 

Miraculous cure effected at the pool of Bethesda — Reproof of the superstition 
of the Jews, in condemning the performance of necessary works on the 
Sabbath day — After doing many acts of mercy and wonder, our blessed 
Lord is visited by his mother and his brethren, and makes a spiritual re- 
flection on that incident 121 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Our Lord delivers many remarkable parables, and explains several of them — 
Returns to Nazareth and commissions the twelve Apostles, whom he had 
before selected as his constant attendants and followers, to disperse and 
preach the Gospel of the kingdom of God in clivers places — After the death 
of John the Baptist, the Apostles return to Nazareth 128 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Our Lord adds to the confirmation of his mission and doctrine by working a 
miracle in the wilderness of Bethsaida — The people, struck with the power 
and grace of the blessed Jesus, propose to raise him to the earthly dignity 
of king — Peter, by means of his blessed Master, performs a miracle in 
walking upon the sea — Our Lord's improvement of the miracle wrought in 
the wilderness, introduced in a discourse delivered in the synagogue of 
Oapernaum 139 



CONTENTS. 



IS 



CHAPTER XV. 

Pharisaical superstition severely reprimanded — The great Redeemer con- 
tinues to display his power and benevolence, in the relief of several objects 
of affliction — Guards his disciples against the prevailing errors and fallacies 
of the Scribes and Pharisees — Proceeds on the works of his Heavenly 
Father 152 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The blessed Jesus delegates a special power to Peter, one of his disciples — 
Pronounces the final judgment of the world, and is afterwards transfigured 
upon the mount 161 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Our Saviour relieves a youth tortured with a dumb spirit — Conforms cheer- 
fully to the custom of the country by paying the tribute — Reproves the pride 
of his disciples, and delivers some excellent moral precepts 166 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Our blessed Lord attends for the fourth time the celebration of the Passover 
at Jerusalem — Harangues the multitude at the solemn Feast of Taber- 
nacles — Exempts the woman detected in adultery from the punishment 
annexed by the Jews to that crime — Escapes from the snares laid for him 
by the inveterate Scribes and Pharisees 1 75 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Our Lord continues to work miracles in confirmation of his mission and doc- 
trine — Calls forth and sends out seventy disciples — Preaches to the people 
of Judea by way of parables 191 

CHAPTER XX. 

The humble Jesus resides with Martha and Mary, two obscure women of 
Bethany — Improves a circumstance which occurred at the Feast of Dedi- 
cation — Prescribes a mode of prayer to his disciples and future followers — 
Revisits some of the Pharisaical tribe 205 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Explanation of the origin and opinion of the different sects amongst the 
Jews — Our Lord teaches the multitude by plain discourse, and also by 
parable 218 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Our Lord reproves the ignorance of the people in not understanding the 
signs which preceded his appearance — Pertinently replies to an ignorant 
question and inference concerning the Galileans — Teaches by parable — Re- 
lieves a distressed woman ; and is warned to depart the country, in order 
to escape the resentment of Herod 227 



12 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

The blessed Jesus accepts the Pharisee's invitation a third time — Delivers 
divers parables representing the requisites for admittance into the kingdom 
of God— The care of the Redeemer for every one of his people — The re- 
ception of a penitent sinner, and the punishment of misusing the benefits 
of the gospel 232 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Jesus rebukes the insolent derision of the Pharisees — Describes by a parable 
the nature of future rewards and punishments ; and enforces the doctrine 
of mutual forbearance 245 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Our Lord is applied to in behalf of poor Lazarus — Cures ten persons of the 
leprosy in Samaria, and restores Lazarus to life , 251 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

The Great Prophet of Israel foretells the ruin of the Jewish state, enforces 
many important doctrines by parable — Blesses the children as emblems of 
the heavenly and Christian temper and disposition 259 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Our Lord departs from his retirement— Declares the only way of salvation — ' 
Shows the duty of improving the means of grace, by the parable of the 
vineyard — Prediction of his suffering, and contention of the disciples 
about precedence in his kingdom 265 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

The benevolent Saviour restores sight to the blind — Kindly regards Zaccheus 
the publican — Delivers the parable of the servants entrusted with their 
Lord's money — Accepts the kind offices of Mary — Makes a public entry 
into Jerusalem 272 

CHAPTER XXIX. 
Jesus pronounces a curse upon the fig tree — Expels the profaners of the 
temple— Asserts his divine authority, and delivers two parables..., 279 

CHAPTER XXX. 

The blessed Jesus wisely retorts on the Pharisees and Sadducees, who pro- 
pound an intricate question to him — Settles the most important point of the 
law — Enforces his mission and doctrine ; and foretells the judgment that / 
would fall upon the Pharisaical tribe 287 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

Our Saviour commends even the smallest act proceeding from a truly be- 
nevolent motive — Predicts the demolition of the temple of Jerusalem, and 
delivers several instructive parables 20S 



CONTENTS. 



13 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

Our blessed Lord is anointed by a poor but pious woman — The perfidious 
Judas consents to betray his Master — The humble Jesus washes the feet of 
his disciples, and foretells that disciple who was to betray him into the 
nands of his inveterate enemies 314 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 
Jesus institutes the sacrament in commemoration of his death and suffer- 
ings — Settles a dispute which arose amongst his disciples — Predicts Peter's 
cowardice in denying his Master — Fortifies his disciples against the ap- 
proaching shock — Foretells Peter's cowardice again — Preaches to and 
prays with his disciples for the last time — Passionate address of our Lord 



to his Father in the garden 326 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 
The blessed Redeemer is taken by a band of soldiers, at the information of 
the traitor Judas — Heals a wound given to the High Priest's servant by 
Simon Peter 349 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

Fulfilment of our Lord's prediction concerning Peter 353 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

The Saviour of the world is arraigned at the bar of the Sanhedrim, and tried 
by the Jewish Council 356 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 
Our blessed Saviour is carried before the Roman Governor — The traitor 
Judas becomes his own executioner — Pilate publicly acquits Jesus, and re- 
fers his case to the decision of Herod 360 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
The Roman Governor, for want of evidence, proposes to acquit and release 
J esus three several times, but at length, at the pressing instigation of the 
inveterate Jews, he condemns and delivers him up 867 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 
The innocent, immaculate Redeemer is led forth to Mount Calvary, and 
there ignominiously crucified between two notorious malefactors — Reviled 
by the spectators— A phenomenon appears on the important occasion — 
Our Lord addresses his friends from the cross, and gives up the ghost 373 

CHAPTER XL 

The blessed Jesus is treated with indignity after his crucifixion — A pious 
person begs his body of Pilate, in order for interment 385 



14 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

Two pious women go to view the sepulchre of their crucified Lord and 
Saviour — An awful phenomenon happens — A ministering spirit descends — 
The Redeemer bursts the chains of death, and rises from the confines of 
the grave... 38$ 

CHAPTER XLSI. 

The angel addresses the pious women — Two disciples go to the sepulchre — 
Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene — Afterwards to a company of women — 
Peter meets his Lord and Master, after his resurrection 390 

CHAPTER XLIII. 

Jesus appears on divers occasions to different disciples — Reproves and con- 
vinces Thomas of his unbelief — Shows himself to a great number of his 
followers in Galilee 398 

CHAPTER XLIV. 

Our Lord's ascension — The resurrection of Jesus asserted and vindicated, 
against the objections of unbelievers — General review of the life and doc- 
trines of the great Redeemer =. 400 

CHAPTER XLV. 

Remarks on the peculiar nature of the Christian religion, the principles it 
inculcates, and its fitness to render men holy and humble here, and happily 
glorified hereafter 412 

THE LIVES OF THE APOSTLES AND HOLY WOMEN. 

St. Peter 425 

St. Paul 456 

St. Andrew 497 

St. James the Great • 501 

St. John the Evangelist '. 504 

St. Philip • 511 

St. Bartholomew 514 

St. Matthew 516 

St. Thomas 518 

St. James the Less • 521 

St. Simon the Zealot 524 

St. Jude - 525 

St. Matthias 527 

St. Mark 528 

St. Luke 530 

St. BarnaDas .....o 532 

St. Stephen : — — • 536 

St. Timothy ».«.« 539 



CONTENTS. 15 

Titus > 541 

The Virgin Maiy 542 

Joseph, the Husband of Mary 548 

Mary, the Sister of Lazarus 550 

Joseph 553 

Joseph of Arimathea . . 553 

Nicodemus 554 

John Mark 557 

Clement 558 

Mary Magdalene 559 

St. John the Baptist 560 

OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 

Adam 567 

Noah 573 

Abraham 581 

Isaac 593 

Jacob 598 

Joseph 608 

Mc3es 618 

Joshua 637 

Ruth 642 

Samson 646 

Samuel 651 

David 656 

Solomon 674 

Elijah 683 

Daniel 691 

LIVES OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN FATHERS. 

Ignatius 697 

Polyearp '. . 699 

Origen 701 

Cyprian 705 

Eusebius 707 

Augustine 708 

Jerome 710 

Patrick 712 

Peter Waldo 715 

JohnWycliffe 716 

John Huss 720 

Martin Luther 722 

John Calvin 730 

THE HISTORY OF THE JEWS, FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO 

THE PRESENT DAY.. 735 

A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

Showing the Principal Events of Jewish and Contemporaneous History, 

From the Creation of the World 788 




19 Synagogue of the Portuguese Jews. 

20 Mosque. 

IV— THE MOHAMMEDAN QUARIEE, 

21 Khan and bazaar. 

22 Mineral Bath. 

23 Convent and Schools. 

24 Institute for Blind Derrtsnes. 

25 Hospital of St. Helena. 

26 Reputed site of the House of the Kich Man. 

27 Reputed site of the House of St. Varonica 
23 Residence of the Turkish Pasha 

29 Arch of the "Ecce Horn.. " 



30 Place of the "Scala Sancta," the Holy Staircase. 

31 Pilate's House. 

32 Place of Flagellation. 

33 Ruins of a Church. House of Simon the Pharisee. 

34 Church of St. Anna. 

35 House of Herod. Dervish's Mosque, 

V.— THE MOORS' QUAKI2S, 

a Armenian Convent. House of Caiaphas. 

b American Burial Ground, 
c David's Tomb, 
d Place of "Waring of the JeTTg. 
Just within Zion's Gate are wretched abodes of lepers 




MODERN JERUSALEM. 

I.— THE CHRISTIAN QUABT1B, 

1 Goliath's Castle. 

2 Latin Convent. 

3 Church of Holy Sepulchre. 

4 Greek Convent 

5 Coptic Convent. 

6 Ruins of St. John's Hospital. 

7 Greek Church. St. John's. 

8 Residence of the Christian Bishop, 

9 Church of the Greek Schismatics. 

10 Tower of IMppicus. David's Tower. 

11 Supposed Site of the T<>wor of Phasaehs*, 

12 The Frussian Consular- 



15 Modern Evangelical Churcn 
14 Hospital and Syrian Convent. 

IL— THE ARMENIAN QUARTER. 

W Armenian Convent, with the Church <* 
St. James. 

The only building in Jerusalem whie*> 
presents any appearance of comfort, 

16 Nunnery of St. George. 

17 Barracks. 

III.-THE JEWS' QUARTER 

T7te most wretched in the city 

18 Synagogue of the Shepardim 



Star of Bethlehem 

OR 

THE HEAVENLY DAWN. 



CHAPTER I. 

PRESAGE OF THE BIRTH OP CHRIST —PREDICTION OP THE BIRTH OF JOHN 
THE BAPTIST — SALUTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN BY THE ANGEL — ■ 
VISITATION OP THE VIRGIN MARY TO ELIZABETH — -BIRTH OF THE BAPTIST. 

No event that ever did, or perhaps will happen, can more re- 
markably display the wisdom and power of the Great Jehovah, 
than the glorious manner in which he brought life and immortality 
to light, by the Gospel of his only Son, manifested in the flesh. 

History, as it refers merely to human events, is a pleasing and ! 
instructing subject; but that which relates to our immortal interest, 
certainly claims our most serious regard. 

If we survey the works of a stupendous Creator, we shall find that 
few arrived at perfection at once. This observation is amply con- 
firmed by the various productions in the natural, and changes in the 
moral world. The Supreme Being, who conducts all his operations 
according to his infinite wisdom, appears to have retained the same 
maxim in the regulating of his kindest design to the sons of men. 
The Divine mind and will were not revealed to mankind, at first, in 
their clearest evidence and fullest splendor. The dawn, in a spiritual 
as well as in a natural sense, preceded the meridian glory; the 
former revelation was but a type or earnest of the latter, and, in 
eornnarison with it, intricate and mysterious. 

The all-gracious God, as it seemed best to his unerring wisdom, 
was pleased, by degrees, to open and unfold his glorious councils : 
2 17 



IS 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



and man gradually attained to the knowledge of the great plan of 
salvation, and the means used by its great Author to promote and 
establish it. 

Some time before the incarnation of the blesSed Jesus an opinion 
prevailed, among the pious part of the Jews, that the Great Jehovah 
would condescend to favor them with a clearer revelation of his 
mind and will, by the mission of some eminent person qualified from 
above to instruct them in the same. This opinion was founded on 
the predictions of the ancient prophets, who had described, with the 
utmost beauty and clearness, the person, character, and glory of the 
Messiah, appointed by God, in his own time, to declare his eternal 
counsels to mankind.* 

Relying on the fulfilment of these prophecies, the devout persons 
among the Jews imagined the time appointed by God at hand, and 
that the promised Messiah would shortly make his appearance, and 
therefore are said to have " waited night and day for the consolation 
of Israel These people, at that time grievously oppressed by the 
Roman power, and consequently anxious of regaining their liberty, 
as well as revenging themselves on their tyrannical oppressors, 
waited for the accomplishment of the prophecies with the most solici- 
tous desire. But this opinion of the approach of a general Deliverer 
extended much farther than the country of the Jews; for, through 
their connexion with so many countries, their disputes with the 
learned men among the heathen, and the translation of the Old 
Testament into a language now almost general, their religion greatly 
prevailed in the east; and, consequently, their opinion, that a Prince 
would appear in the kingdom of Judea, who would dispel the mists 
of ignorance, deliver the Jews from the Roman yoke, and spread his 
dominion from one end of the world to the other. 



*Dr. Wm. Smith, in his Dictionary of the Bible, writes as follows, concerning 
ithe Messianic prophecies : 

" The earliest gleam of the Gospel is found in the account of the fall (Glen. hi. 
15). Many interpreters would understand by the seed of the woman the Mes- 
siah only ; but it is easier to think with Calvin, that mankind, after they are 
gathered into one army by Jesus the Christ, the Head of the Church, are to 
achieve the victory over evil. The blessings in store for the children of Shem 
are remarkably indicated in the words of Noah, 'Blessed be the God of Shem ' 
f(Gen. ix. 26). Next follows the promise to Abraham, wherein the blessings to 
■Shem are"turned into the narrower channel of one family. (Gen. xii. 2, 3.) The 
ipromise is still indefinite ; but it tends to the undoing of the curse of Adam by 
a blessing to all the earth through the seed of Abraham, as death had come on 
the whole <earth through Atdani. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 19 

While the eastern world was fraught with these sanguine hopes, 
the same angel who had appeared to Daniel, the prophet, with a cer- 
tain information as to the period of the Messiah's coming, as well as 
his transactions in this lower world, was sent to Zacharias, while he 
was executing his office before God, in the order of his course (which 
was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord), to 
foretell that a child should spring from him and his wife Elizabeth, 
though they were stricken in years, who should be endowed with 
extraordinary gifts from heaven, and honored with being the fore- 
runner of the Saviour of the world. 

Zacharias, when he saw the angel, though he knew him to be of 
heavenly extraction, could not judge the subject of his mission, and 
therefore discovered a mixture of fear and surprise ; but the heavenly 
ambassador cheered his desponding soul with this kind address : 
" Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Eliza- 
beth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John." That 
he waited day and night for the consolation of Israel he well knew, 
which is all we can understand by his prayer being heard ; for it was 
unnatural for him to think that he and his wife Elizabeth, w r ho were 
advanced in years, should have a son ; nay, he intimates his doubts 
concerning it in these words : " Whereby shall I know this? for I 
am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years." Besides, he 
was a rriest of the course of Abiah, whose particular office was to 
pray in behalf of the people for public and national blessings; so 
that it is very reasonable to think that on all occasions of public 
worship, he prayed most earnestly for the accomplishment of the 
prophecies relative to the appearance of the long-expected Messiah, 
who was promised as a general blessing to all the nations of the 
earth. 

That this was the great subject of his prayer appears from the 
declaration of' the angel Gabriel:* The prayer thou hast directed 
with sincerity to an Almighty ear, concerning the coming of the 
Messiah, " is heard ; and behold thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a 
son," who shall prepare the way for the mighty Redeemer of Israel. 
The old priest, indeed, w T as as much astonished at the subject of the 

* The word Gabriel, which is used as a propel name in Daniel viii. 16-ix. 21, 
and in Luke i. 19-26, is merely a term descriptive of the angelic office. Accord- 
ing to the Jewish and Christian traditions, Gabriel is one Df the archangels, " but 
in Scripture he is set forth only as the representative of the angelic nature in its 
Vninistration of comfort and sympathy to man." 



20 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



mission as he was at the appearance of the messenger ; and esteeming 
it impossible that his wife, thus advanced in years, should conceive 2 
son, weakly demanded a sign to confirm his belief, in the fulfilment 
of the promise, though he knew the authority of the angel was 
derived from the God of Truth. But as it is the lot of humanity to 
err, Zacharias had, for a moment, forgot, that nothing was impossible 
to Omnipotence, as well as that it was not the first time an aged 
woman was caused to conceive, and bear a child — the least reflection 
would have reminded him that Sarah conceived and bore Isaac when 
she was far advanced in years, and that Samuel was born of a woman 
who had been long reputed, and even called barren. 

His curiousity was, indeed, gratified, but in a manner that carried 
with it, at once, a confirmation of the promise, and a punishment of 
his unbelief. As he had verbally testified his doubt of the fulfilment 
of the prediction of the angel, he was punished with the loss of his 
speech, which was to continue to the very day in which the predic- 
tion should be accomplished ; " Behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not 
able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, 
because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their 
season." 

Zacharias soon received an awful testimony of the divinity of the 
mission of Gabriel, who was no sooner departed than he was struck 
dumb ; for when he came to pray in the course of his office, during 
the oblation of his incense, he could not utter a word, and was under 
a necessity of making signs to the people that an angel had appeared 
to him in the temple, and that he was deprived of the faculty of 
speech, as a punishment for his doubting the fulfilment of an event 
of which he had been foretold concerning him. 

Soon after Zacharias departed to his own house (the days of his 
ministration being accomplished), his wife Elizabeth, according to the 
prediction of the angel, conceived, and retired into a private place, 
where she lived five months in the uninterrupted exercises of piety, 
devotion, and contemplation on the mysterious providence of the 
Almighty, and his amazing goodness to the sinful children of men. 

When Elizabeth was advanced six months in her pregnancy, the 
same heavenly ambassador was sent to a poor virgin, called Mary, 
;vho lived in obscurity in Nazareth, under the care of Joseph, to 
whom she was espoused. This man and woman were both lineally 
descended from the house of David, from whose loins it was foretold 
tlje great Messiah should spring. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



21 



This virgin being ordained by the Most High to be the Mother of 
the great Saviour of the world, was saluted by the angel in the most 
respectful terms : " Hail ! thou that art highly favored, the Lord is 
with thee ; blessed art thou among women I" Such an address from 
so exalted a Being, greatly alarmed the meek and humble virgin ; to 
allay whose fear, and encourage whose heart, the angel related, in 
most rapturous terms, the subject of his embassy, which was to assure 
her, That she was chosen by God to the greatest honor which could 
be conferred on a mortal, and which would perpetuate her memory : 
an honor no less than that of being the mother of promised and 
long-expected Messiah, who upon earth shall be caiieu Jseus, because 
he should save his people from their sins, be the restorer of human 
nature, and the procuring cause of eternal bliss to smners, who had 
forfeited the favor, and incurred the resentment, of an offended God : 
that this divine person was to be considered as the Son of the Most 
High God ; to whom should be given by his Almighty Father the 
throne of David, his earthly father, on which he should preside 5 
and which, being the whole church of Christ, the house of Jacob, the 
spiritual Israel, or the kingdom of the Messiah, should continue for 
ever and ever. 

The astonished virgin, unmindful, likewise, that Isaiah had long 
since prophesied, " That a virgin should conceive and bear a son/' 1 
thought her virginity an insurmountable barrier to the fulfilment of 
the prophecy, especially as such an event had never occurred since 
the creation of the world, and therefore required of the angel an 
explanation of the manner in which such a circumstance could be 
effected. 

This desire by no means implies her not remembering that with 
God all things were possible, but only serves to prove the weakness 
of her apprehension on the one hand, or her diffidence and sense of 
her own unworthiness on the other. 

The angel, therefore, perceiving the goodness of her disposition, 
notwithstanding some little proof of human weakness and shortness 
of sight, vouchsafed an immediate answer to her inquiry : " The 
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall 
cover thee;" or, in other words, this miraculous event shall be 
brought about by the aid of the Holy Spirit, and wonderful exertion 
of the power of the Most High. As thy conception is effected by 
the immediate interposition of the Holy Ghost, " Therefore that holy 
thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God." 



22 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



To confirm her faith in the glorious message, the heavenly messenger 
observed to her that her cousin Elizabeth, notwithstanding her 
advanced years, and reputed barrenness, was above six months preg- 
nant ; assigning this incontestable argument for the miraculous 
incident, " For with God nothing shall be impossible." 

This reply not only removed all her doubts and fears, but filled 
her with inexpressible joy, so that she even anticipated the promised 
felicity ; for she, with the rest of the daughters of Jacob, had lonj 
indulged a hope of being selected by God to be the honored mothe r 
of the Saviour of Israel : and therefore, on her being assured that 
such great happiness was destined her by the heavenly Disposer of 
all events, she thus expressed her reliance on the fulfilment of the 
Divine promise, and her perfect acquiescence in the pleasure of the 
Almighty : " Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me 
according to thy word." 

The angel had no sooner departed, than Mary set out for the 
mountainous country of Judea, though at a very remote distance from 
Nazareth, in order to rejoice with her cousin Elizabeth in the joyful 
news she had received from the angel concerning her. The rapture 
and delight which filled the minds of Mary, Joseph her husband, 
and Elizabeth, on the occasion of this salutation, can alone be ex- 
pressed by the affecting description recorded by the evangelist Luke, 
who is peculiar for the beauty of his style, and elegance of his 
expressions. 

That evangelist writes, that the salutation of Mary had such an 
effect upon Elizabeth, that, on her hearing of the miraculous event 
which had befallen the Virgin, the babe leaped within her, and that 
she being inspired with a holy delight on the approaching prospect of 
the nativity of her Saviour, she exclaimed with rapture, "And 
whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to 
me?" Luke i. 34. Nor did her ecstacy cease with this token of 
humility and jov.on the important event; in the ardor of which she 
evinced that prophetic influence, which, while it amazed the blessed 
Virgin, could not fail of establishing her belief in what the angel 
had foretold, for she repeated the very words expressed by the angel, 
in his salutation of the Holy Virgin, " Blessed art thou among 
women," together with a quotation from the Psalms, and " blessed is 
the fruit of thy womb ! " 

For as Mary conceived the seed long promised, and earnestly 
desired — the seed in whom all the nations of the earth were to be 



24 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



blessed — he could not but be blessed himself, according to the words 
of the Psalmist: " His name shall continue as long as the sun, and 
men shall be blessed in him : all nations shall call him blessed.'' 
The happy Virgin, catching the holy flame from the aged Elizabeth, 
broke out into an humble acknowledgment of her un worth mess, ami 
the wonderful grace of the Almighty, in appointing her to the exalted 
honor of bearing in her womb the Redeemer of Israel, as expressed in 
those well-known words, " My soul doth magnify the Lord," etc. 
Having thus confirmed herself by this visit, in the belief of the pre- 
diction of the angel Gabriel, when the period of Elizabeth's preg- 
nancy approached, she returned to Nazareth, having resided in Judea 
about three months. 

Soou after the departure of Mary, Elizabeth brought forth her son, 
the appointed harbinger of the King of Glory ; and on the eighth day 
after his birth, according to the Judaical custom, he was circumcised, 
and called according to the appointment of the angel, John, alluding, 
in the Hebrew tongue, to the gracious display of the wisdom and 
goodness God was about to manifest to the world, by the spreading 
of the gospel of his Son, of whom this John was the appointed fore- 
runner. 

This promise being thus fulfilled, the aged priest was restored to 
his speech, and immediately broke out into praise and rapture at the 
marvellous works of God, in strains which astonished all around him. 
This most surprising event greatly alarmed the people of the adjacent 
country, who were divided in their opinions concerning a child whose 
birth was attended with so many extraordinary circumstances. In- 
deed, these incidents were worthy of general admiration : that he who 
was to be the forerunner of the mighty Saviour of Israel, should not 
make his entrance on life in an obscure and common manner, but 
with particular tokens of the favor of heaven, in order to attract the 
observation of his countrymen, and excite their attention to that 
ministry which he was called to by God, even the preparation of the 
people for the reception of the Messiah, who was shortly to appear in 
the flesh. 

It is observable that the Baptist, from his infancy, displayed great 
qualities, both of mind and body ; for such was his strength of con- 
stitution, through the blessing of the God of Nature, that lie lived 
till near the thirtieth year of his age, when his public ministry began, 
in the mountains and desert country of Judea, bereft of almost all the 
comforts of life. But at length the prophecy of the good old Zacha- 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



25 



rias, relating to his future elevation, was literally fulfilled : " Thou, O 
child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go 
before the face of the Lord, to prepare his ways ; to give knowledge 
of salvation to his people, by the remission of their sins, through the 
tender mercies of our God ; whereby the day-spring from on high 
hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the 
shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." 

As Joseph had abstained from all matrimonial intercourse with his 
wife, he was not a little alarmed, when, shortly after her return to 
Nazareth, she discovered evident signs of pregnancy ; nay, so far was 
he wrought on by this circumstance, that he absolutely resolved on a 
dissolution of the marriage ; but previous to such a rigorous procedure, 
questioning her concerning the same, she, to wipe off so foul an 
aspersion, minutely related to him the particulars of the vision from 
the angel, and the extraordinary event that had befallen Zacharias and 
Elizabeth. 

Notwithstanding this ingenuous declaration, Joseph's suspicions 
continued, and suggested to him, that this might be a device, concer- 
ted by the friends of Mary, to exempt her from that disgrace, which 
must attend a divorce on such a pretence ; .however, he resolved to 
execute his purpose as privately as possible, and without assigning the 
cause of the same, which, under their constitution, would have sub- 
jected her to the penalty of death. 

But, on cooler reflection, he called to mind the sovereign power of 
Omnipotence; for which reason, however opposite her case might be 
to the nature of things in general, her vindication of herself might 
be well-grounded. He now thought himself bound by every tie of 
justice and duty, to preserve her character inviolable; though as he 
was a just man, and a most religious observer of the law, the asser- 
tions she made, did not appear to him sufficient to justify him in re- 
taining her in his house. While he was thus ruminating on this 
interesting event, he was overtaken with a pleasing slumber, and re- 
ceived a communication from above, which fully revealed the cause 
and manner of Mary's pregnancy, dispelled his doubts, and encour- 
aged him to take home his falsely-suspected spouse ; "Joseph, thou 
son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that 
which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost." 

The aged Joseph complied with the voice of heaven most cheer- 
fully : for no sooner did the morning dawn appear, than he arose from 
his couch, and obeyed the commands of the Most High, by relating 



26 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



to his wife his being assured of her innocence, and immediately 
restored her to her former favor. 

While he related to her the manner of this extraordinary revelation 
by a messenger from the heavenly Canaan, he discovered in her a 
remarkable chastity of heart, entirely conformable to so mysterious an 
operation, and knew her not till she had brought forth the great 
Redeemer of Israel. 

Thus was fulfilled that which was foretold by the prophets ; and 
particularly the prediction of Isaiah, which imported that a virgin 
should bring forth a son — " Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear 
a son, and shall call his name Iminanuel," (Isaiah vii. 14,) which 
being interpreted, is God with us. 




THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 

7 - 



27 





BETHLEHEM. 



CHAPTER- II. 

GENERAL DECREE FOR TAXATION PUBLISHED — BIRTH OF CHRIST — DECLARATION 
OF THE SAME TO THE SHEPHERDS — CIRCUMCISION AND PRESENTATION OF 
CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE — THE WISE MEN OF THE EAST WORSHIP THE HOLY 
CH TLD —FLIGHT OF JOSEPH INTO EGYPT — MASSACRE OF THE INFANTS AT 
BETHLEHEM — DEATH OF HEROD — RETURN OF JOSEPH OUT OF EGYPT. 

Augustus Cesar, the Roman Emperor, having at this time issued 
an edict for a general taxation* on all nations, cities, and towns sub- 
ject to the Empire, King Herod, in consequence of that decree, 
commanded all under his government to muster iu the city of his 

* "The pressure of Romnn taxation, if not absolutely heavier, was probably more 
galling, as being more thorough and systematic, more distinctively a mark of bond- 
age. The capture of Jerusalem by Pompey was followed immediately by the impo- 
sition of a tribute, and within a short time the sum thus taken from the resources of 
the country amounted to ten thousand talents. When Judea became formally a 
Roman province, the whole financial system of the empire came as a natural conse- 
quence. The taxes were systematically formed, and the Publicans appeared as a new 
curse to the country. The portoria were levied at harbors, piers, and the gates of 
cities. (Matt. xvii. 24. Rom. xiii. 7.) In addition to this, there was the poll tax paid 
by every Jew, and looked upon, for that reason, as the special badge of servitude. 
United with this, as a part of the same system, there was also, in all probability, a 
property tax of some kind. In addition to these general taxes, the inhabitants of 
T orusakra were subject tc ° spec!?.. 1 house-dutv about this time." — Dr. Smith. 



28 THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 

people, or place of his descent, that an estimate might be taken of their 
persons and effects. Pursuant to this order, Joseph and Mary, as 
descendants from the line of David, departed from Nazareth, where 
they then resided, and came to Bethlehem, a city of Judea, the place 
of the nativity of David and his ancestors. 

So numerous were the people that repaired to this place, on account 
of the general decree, that every dwelling was occupied; and Joseph 
and Mary, though they could not depart thence till after the taxation, 
were forced to take up their residence in an humble stable, the spot 
in which it pleased the Divine Wisdom should be born the Lord of 
Life and Glory, who, as a perfect example of humility to ali his 
followers, was to make his entrance into, and his exit out of the lower ^ 
world, in a very mean and humble manner. 

In this lowly tenement, the blessed Virgin brought forth her first- 
born God-like Son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him 
(having no better place) in a manger.* 

It pleased the wise disposer of all things, by his holy angel, first to 
make known to some pious shepherds, who were watching their flocks 
by night in the neighboring fields, the birth of the long-promised, 
long-expected Messiah. The radiance which shone around them 
terrified the astonished peasants ; but for the purpose of dissipating 
their fears, and confirming their joys, the divine messenger interposed, 
and thus addressed them : " Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good 
tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all people. For unto you 
is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the 
Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you : Ye shall find the babe 
wrapped in swaddling-clothes, lying in a manger." Luke ii. 10, etc. 

The glorious news was no sooner proclaimed than a number of the 
celestial choir were heard to resound the praises of the Almighty for 
this transcendent display of his goodness to sinful men : "And 
suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, 
praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth 
peace, good-will toward men." Transported with the happy tidings 
of the birth of the Redeemer of Israel, the angel no sooner departed 

* Bethlehem, the birth-place of the Saviour, lies to the east of the main highway 
from Jerusalem to Hebron, and is six miles from the former place. It was the home 
of Ruth and the birth-place of David. Its population was small in the days of the 
Saviour, but at present is about three thousand, nearly all of the inhabitants being 
Christians. It is said to be one of the cleanest and neatest towns in Palestine. St- 
Jerome lived here for more than thirty years, and here made his famous translatioD 
of the Bible into the Vulgate. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



29 



than the shepherds hastened to Bethlehem in quest of the Babe, whom, 
according to the information of the sacred missionary, they found 
wrapped in swaddling-clothes and lying in a manger. This event, so 




THE ANGEL APPEARING TO THE SHEPHERDS. 

exactly conformable to the angePs prediction, equally delighted and 
amazed them; nor could they conceal the purport of his mission, but 
published abroad all they had seen and heard. 



30 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



Besides, as all the promises made to Abraham were to be fulfilled 
in the Messiah, it was necessary he should receive the seal of circum- 
cision, in order to prove his descent from the patriarch, concerning 
whom it was foretold, "In thy seed shall all the families of the earth 
be blessed." As a further reason for our Lord's compliance with this 
Jewish institution, we may urge the propriety of his finishing the 
former dispensation, by an exact adherence to its rules, as he was 
about to establish another and better covenant ; which could not be 
effected more fully, than by conforming to that sacrament which was 
of Divine injunction, and indispensably requisite to admission into the 
former. As the same institution also required that every first-born 
son, without any regard to circumstance or family, should be presented 
to the Lord, in the temple, by delivering him into the hand of the 
priest, and paying five shekels, together with an offering, which, from 
the poorer sort, consisted of a pair of turtle-doves, or two young 
pigeons, a ceremony in coiumemoration of the Divine mercy, in 
sparing the first-born in Israel, when those of Egypt, both men and 
beasts, were destroyed ; his parents having tarried at Bethlehem till 
the days* of Mary's purification were accomplished, brought the child 
Jesus to Jerusalem, and there presented him in the temple to the 
Lord, in the manner just described, with the offering allowed to the 
poorer sort of people; a repeated instance of the exact obedience of the 
immaculate Jesus to the ceremonial law, as well as the poverty of his 
parents, though descended from a royal house. 

During the presentation of the Holy Infant, a pious and venerable 
old man, named Simeon, entered the temple, who, with all the devout, 
had "waited day and night for the consolation of Israel," and to 
whom it had been revealed by the Spirit of Truth, that he should not 
depart this mortal life till he had seen the Lord of life and salvation. 
Accordingly it was signified to him by the Holy Ghost, at whose 
instance he came at that precise time into the temple, that the child 
there presented was the long-expected Messiah, even the Redeemer 
of Israel. In an ecstasy of joy he embraced the heavenly infant in 
his arms, and broke out into this rhapsody : " Lord, now lettest thou 
thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word : for mine eyes 
have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of 
all people ; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people 
Israel." Luke ii. 29, etc. 

A certain aged prophetess, called Anna, who had a long time 
waited for the redemption of Israel, entering the temple at the instant 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



31 



in which the pious Simeon exulted in the birth of the heavenly 
Infant, and finding that he was the promised Messiah, likewise joined 
with him in praising God, and went forth and declared the glad 
tidings of salvation to all the faithful in these parts. 

Having thus, in every respect, complied with the ceremonies and 
rites contained in the law of Moses, Joseph and Mary, with the child 
Jesus, entered into Galilee, to their own city. Nazareth ; but did not 
long abide there : for having adjusted their affairs, they returned 
again to Bethlehem, the place of our Lord's nativity. 

This step seems to have been pursued in consequence of their 
opinion that it was necessary, in order to his being acknowledged the 
Messiah, " sent by God," that he should reside some time in the 
place of his birth. Whatever might be their motive for removal, it 
is evident from Scripture, that while they were in Bethlehem with 
their Son, certain Eastern philosophers, called Magi, or wise men, 
came, in consequence of the appearance they had seen, to Jerusalem, 
and inquired for the king of the Jews, declaring they had seen his 
star in their own quarter, and were come to pay him the adorations 
due to his dignity. 

Various conjectures have been formed by the learned concerning 
this star, which is said to have appeared in the east : some think it 
was the Spirit of God, others an angel, some a comet, others a lumin- 
ous appearance, etc. A modern writer supposes it to have been the 
glory that surrounded the angels who appeared to the shepherds at 
Bethlehem, on the night of the blessed Lord's nativity. 

But. notwithstanding these uncertain conjectures, the star answered 
the end designed, and directed the Magi to the spot where resided the 
Lord of life and glory. Some men, too wise to admit of the eviden- 
ces from the Revelation, have sceptically inquired, how these East- 
ern Magi could arrive at any knowledge that the Jews expected the 
Messiah, and that, therefore, on the appearance of this new star in the 
firmament, how they should apprehend it pointed out the birth of 
the great Redeemer of Israel? The learned assertors of the Chris- 
tian cause, in answer to these queries, observe, that an opinion of the 
approach of the Messiah's kingdom had long prevailed all over the 
East ; nay, this is declared in profane history, by Suetonius, Tacitus, 
and others. 

The reason of this prevailing opinion is very obvious. The Jews 
conceived mighty expectations of the Messiah, from the many prophe- 
cies concerning him recorded in their own language; and the 



m 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



Arabians, from the prophecies to the same import made to Abraham ; 
it being certain that those people retained traditional knowledge of 
this promise, from the words of Balaam, who was an Arabian prophet : 
,£ There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall arise out 
of Israel," etc., which every impartial reader must acknowledge 
refers to the appearance of the Messiah only, and not to any other 
incident whatever. 

The other Eastern nations derived their expectations of the Messiah 
from their commercial connections with the Jews and Arabians, but 
more especially from the Jews, who being scattered over the whole 
country of the East, spread their religion wherever they went, which 
occasioned several Roman historians to take notice of the prevalence 
of that opinion. 

Nay, the expectation of the Messiah being born in Judea, was 
strongly impressed on the minds of the followers of Zoroaster, who 
reformed the religion of the Persians, and who, being a servant to the 
prophet Daniel, was particularly favored with revelations concerning 
the appearance of the Messiah. 

From these considerations, it evidently appears that this opinion 
prevailed throughout the East; and that the Magi might, with great 
reason, on the appearance of the star, repair to Jerusalem in quest of 
the promised Saviour of Israel. 

But to leave this subject, as not immediately appertaining to our 
purpose. The whole city of Jerusalem was alarmed at the unexpected 
arrival of the Eastern Magi ; an event which much perplexed the 
tyrant Herod, whose ambitions mind maintained the utmost aversion 
to the very thought of a rival or competitor, and consequently could 
not brook a report that favored the news of the birth of a king of the 
Jews. 

Disguising, however, his vindictive sentiments, he received the 
Magi with seeming respect, attended to the design of their errand 
with affected complacency, and, to gratify their curiosity, summoned 
a general council, and demanded of them " where Christ should be 
born" The council did not long keep him in suspense; for, well re- 
membering the prophets had particularly foretold the place of his 
birth, they replied to the demand of the monarch, " In Bethlehem in 
Judea;" and, to confirm their answer, cited prophetic authority: 
"And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, art not the least among 
the princes of Judea; for out of thee shall come a Governor, that 
shall rule my people Israel." (Matt. ii. 6.) The tyrant king, in 



34 



THE LIFE OP CHRIST. 



consequence of the reply from the supreme council of the nation,, 
directed the Magi to Bethlehem, as the place, according to ancient 
prophecy, designed for the honor of Christ's nativity, earnestly 
entreating them at the same time, immediately on their finding out 
the child, to send him word, that he might repair thither and pay 
his adoration to him also. 

But this was mere pretence, and vile hypocrisy; for so far was 
Herod from entertaining any religious regard for the Infant Jesus, 
that he vowed in his heart to destroy him as noon as he should be 
found ; looking on him as designed for a temporal prince, who would 
expel him, or his descendants, from the throne of Judea, instead of a 
prince whose kingdom was wholly spiritual, and whose throne was 
not to be established upon earth, but in the heavenly Jerusalem. 

Although we may have many more convincing proofs of the evi- 
dences of our Saviour's mission than his miraculous preservation from 
the designs of the ambitious Herod, yet this was very remarkable- 
The tyrant, in this case, acted with the utmost subtlety ; he declined 
accompanying the wise men in person ; nor did he even send atten- 
dants with them, who, under the guise of honoring them, might 
have secretly informed him of the abode of the Messiah, or actually 
destroy both the child and his parents ; in short, he acted with such 
apparent indifference as if he had no precise reason for dispatching 
them on the occasion. 

The Magi, however, having obtained the intelligence they sought 
in Jerusalem, set forward under the guidance of the same star which 
had conducted them from their own country, but had left them on 
their arrival in Judea ; which was the cause of their directing their 
course to the capital, in order to seek that information which by the 
desertion of the star became requisite. Thus it appears that the 
design of the Almighty, in directing the Eastern Magi to the capital 
of Judea, was, that the whole nation might be made acquainted 
with the cause of their journey. 

Accordingly, they had no sooner proceeded from Jerusalem, on 
their way to Bethlehem, than their kind conductor again appeared, 
went before them to the very city, and fixed on the habitation of the 
heavenly Infant. Guided by this celestial conductor, they entered 
the house, and prostrating themselves at the sacred feet of their spirit- 
ual King, presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 
Having thus accomplished the design of their expedition, they re- 
turned, according to promise, to Jerusalem. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



The holy family soon fled, in order to escape the vengeance of the 
enraged king ; for no sooner had the wise men departed from Beth- 
lehem, than Joseph was warned by a heavenly messenger, of the 
barbarous purpose of Herod, and commanded to flee into Egypt, 
with the young child and his mother. 

In obedience to the command of the Almighty, Joseph rose that 
night, and fled into Egypt ; and was there until the death of Herod, 
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord, by the 
prophet ; " Out of Egypt have I called my Son." This prophecy, 
which is quoted from Hosea, seems originally to refer to the Israel- 
ites; though the Evangelist's reference will be amply justified, by 
considering that the Egyptian captivity alludes to the subjection of 
the Israelites to great hardships, and their deliverance from the same, 
by an Almighty hand. 

Now, as the departure of the Holy Family into Egypt, was in 
obedience to the divine command, in order to protect the Holy Jesus 
from the incensed Herod, the application of the prophet, " Out of 
Egypt have I called my Son," appears very just, as well as elegant. 
The king of Judea long waited, with most earnest expectation, the re- 
turn of the wise men, anxious to glut his full resentment on the innocent 
Jesus ; till, from their long delay, he began to suspect that his designs 
were frustrated by some extraordinary interposition of Providence. 

At length, irritated by disappointment, he resolved to accomplish 
by cruelty that which he could not effect by art, and accordingly 
issued orders to a large party of soldiers to go throughout Bethlehem, 
and all the neighboring villages, and massacre all the children they 
could find therein, from two years old and under; thinking that 
the infant Jesus, whom, as a prince, he both envied and dreaded, 
would fall in the general slaughter. But the heavenly missionary 
was sheltered from above ; nor was the relentless king permitted to 
impede the design of an Almighty Creator. However, the cities, 
through which the soldiers carried the destructive sword, exhibited 
such scenes of horror and distress, as could not fail to thrill every soul 
not entirely lost to humanity : no sound was heard but the piercing 
cries of parents, the groans of expiring babes, and a general impre- 
cation of vengeance on the merciless tyrant. But he did not long 
survive his cruel decree, being swept from his throne by a nauseous 
disease, to answer for his conduct at the bar of a tremendous judge.* 

* " Herod the Great was the second son of Antipater, who was appointed pro- 
curator of Judea, by Julius Caesar, B. C. 47, and Cyprus, an Arabian of noble 



80 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



The tyrant Herod being thus cut off from the face of the earth 
Joseph was warned by a heavenly messenger to return to the land of 
Israel. The good old man obeyed the Almighty command; and 
appears to have had a great desire of residing in Judea, and very 
probably in Bethlehem ; but hearing that Herod was succeeded in 
his throne by his son Archelaus, and fearing that he might pursue 
the barbarous design of his father, he directed his course another way ; 
but being warned again by a heavenly mission, he retired into Gali- 
lee, then under the government of a mild and benevolent prince, 
called Antipas, and took up his habitation at Nazareth, where the 
particular circumstances which attended the birth of the blessed Jesus 

descent. At the time of liis father's elevation, though only fifteen years old, he 
received the government of Galilee, and, shortly after, that of Ccele-Syria. 
When Antony came to Syria, B. C. 41, he appointed Herod, and his elder brother 
Phasael, tetrarchs of Judea. Herod was forced to abandon Judea the next 
year by an invasion of the Parthians, who supported the claims of Antigonus, 
the representative of the Asmonaean dynasty, and tied to Rome (B. C. 40). At 
Rome he was well received by Antony and Octavian. and was appointed by the 
Senate, king of Judea, to the exclusion of the Asmonaean line. In the course 
of a few years, by the help of the Romans, he took Jerusalem (B. C. 87.) and 
completely established his authority throughout his dominions. After the battle 
of Actium, he visited Octavian, at Rhodes ; and his noble bearing won for him 
the favor of the conqueror, who confirmed him in the possession of his kingdom, 
B. C. 31, and in the next year increased it by the addition of several important 
cities, and afterwards gave him the province of Trachonitis, in the district ot 
Paneas. The remainder of the reign of Herod was undisturbed by external 
troubles ; but his domestic life was embittered by an almost uninterrupted series 
of injuries and cruel acts of vengeance. The terrible acts of bloodshed which 
Herod perpetrated in his own family were accompanied by others among his 
subjects, equal^ terrible from the number who fell victims to them. According 
to the well-known story, he ordered the nobles, whom he had called to him in 
his last moments, to be executed immediateh' after his decease, that so at least 
his death might be attended by univ ersal mourning. It was at the time of his 
fatal illness that he must have caused the slaughter of the infants at Bethlehem 
(Matt. ii. 16-18); and from the comparative insignificance of the murder of a few 
young children in an unimportant village, when contrasted with the deeds which 
he carried out or designed, it is not surprising that Josephus has passed it over in 
silence. In dealing with the religious feelings or prejudices of the Jews, Herod 
showed as great contempt for public opinion as in the execution of his personal 
vengeance. But while he alienated in this manner the affections of the Jews, by 
his cruelty and disregard for the Law, he adorned Jerusalem with many splendid 
monuments of his taste and magnificence. The Temple, which he rebuilt with 
such scrupulous care, was the greatest of these w T orks. The restoration was 
begun, B. C. 20, and the Temple itself was completed in a year and a half. But 
fresh additions were constant^ made in succeeding years, so that it was said 
that the Temple was 'built in forty and six years.' " — Dr. Smith. 



33 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



were not generally known. The evangelist affirms that Joseph, with 
the infant and his mother, resided in Nazareth, where the holy Jesus 
spent his youth : " That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by 
the prophet, He shall be called a Nazarene." 

It is evident that our Lord's residing at Nazareth* tended in a 
remarkable manner to the fulfilment of those prophecies, because, in 
the course of his public ministry, he was frequently reproached with 
the same, and his countrymen often urged it as a reason for their dis- 
regard of his doctrine. But as the stubbornness of unbelief will never 
admit of conviction, we have therefore added these remarks to confirm 
the faith of the Christian, rather than convince the obstinate Infidel. 

* "Nazareth was an obscure village in the clays of our Lord, and but for its con- 
nection with his history, would have remained so. It is situated among the hills 
which constitute the south ridges of Lebanon, just before they descend to 
the plain of Esdraelon. At present it contains 3000 inhabitants, and is one of 
the better-class villages of the Holy Land. It was close to the borders of the 
country of the heathen, with whom it maintained more intimate relations than 
the rest of Judea. Its people spoke a ruder dialect than their brethren, and 
were less cultivated. Therefore the Jews looked down upon the place and its 
people with contempt. It is supposed by some writers that the morals of the 
people of Nazareth were so loose as to subject them to especial odium. 




AXCIENT BANQUET. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER III. 

f?TATE OF OUR LORD'S CHILDHOOD AND PRIVATE LIFE — HIS ARGUMENT WITH 
THE JEWISH DOCTORS — MISSION, CHARACTER, AND DOCTRINE OF THE BAP 
TIST— BAPTISM OF CHRIST, AND VISIBLE DESCENT OF THE SPIRIT ON THAT 
SOLEMNITY. 

The precise circumstances of our Lord's childhood and life, previous 
to his public ministry, cannot be ascertained from the writings of any 
of the evangelists, which can alone be relied on as authentic. All we 
<jan gather from them is, that the faculties of his mind were enlarged 
in proportion to the growth of his body, insomuch that he arrived at 
the very perfection of heavenly wisdom. 

As his parents were poor and humble, hehad not the advantage of a 
finished education ; and he seems to have received no other instruc- 
tion than what his parents gave him in conformity to the Jewish law. 
But supernatural abilities amply compensated for the deficiency of 
natural acquirements, and he gave instances in his earliest years of 
amazing penetration and consummate wisdom. 

According to the Mosaic institution, his parents annually went up 
to Jerusalem, and, when he arrived at the age of twelve years, carried 
him with them to that city, in order that he might early imbibe the 
precepts of religion and virtue. In this place the holy Jesus tarried 
without the knowledge, and consequently the consent, of his parents, 
who departed with the rest that were going toward Galilee; and, 
thinking that he was gone forward with some of their relations or 
acquaintances, they continued their journey, not doubting they should 
-overtake him on the road, or meet with him at the place where they 
had appointed to lodge. But on their arrival, not finding the child 
in the village, nor among their relations, they returned to Jerusalem, 
much troubled, and, after a most anxious search of three days, found 
him in the temple, sitting among the learned doctors, who were amazed 
at the wisdom of his questions, and the pertinence of his replies ; which 
w T ere greatly superior to what they could expect from one of his tender 
years and mean education. 

These doctors, or expounders of the law, among the Jews, always 
taught the people publicly on the three great festivals : and it was on 



40 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



one of these public occasions that the blessed Jesus gave such manifest 
proofs of his wisdom and penetration as astonished all beholders, many 
of whom thought he must be something more than human. As, ac- 
cording to his own declaration, he was employed in his heavenly 
Father's business, it is natural to think, in the course of these disputes, 
he modestly corrected some of the errors which the Jewish doctors 
then taught, and which were repugnant to the principles of that 
religion which he came to promote and establish. The wonder of his 
parents, at finding him in such sublime employment, was beyond ex- 
pression ; though his pious mother, notwithstanding the pleasure which 
the discovery afforded her, could not help showing the concern which 
his absence, without their knowledge, had occasioned both to Joseph 
and herself, addressed him thus, " Son, why hast thou dealt thus with 
us? Behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing." To this 
question he replied, That their surprise at his absenting himself with- 
out their knowledge was groundless and absurd, as they might have 
been assured from his extraordinary birth, and the wonderful circum- 
stances attending it, that his Father was no less than the Almighty 
One of Israel ; that he assumed human nature to promote his glorious 
designs; and, therefore, as his errand was of such moment, they must 
not imagine he could always reside with them. "How is it that ye 
sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's busi- 
ness?" It would seem from this that his unique life was already 
beginning to dawn upon him. 

This scene in the temple lifts the veil for a moment which hides 
nearly the whole of the early life of Jesus. Here he appears in the 
sacred edifice as if he would teach that childhood's proper place is in 
the sanctuary where instruction is given, where worship is offered, 
and lessons are taught which benefit all, especially the young. Be- 
hold, too, his early zeal, and the first outburst of the flame that after- 
ward shone so brightly. " Wist ye not that I must be about my 
Father's business?" 

Though his parents did not clearly discern the full meaning of this 
excellent remonstrance, his pious mother committed his words to 
memory, and, together with Joseph her husband, joyfully returned with 
him to their poor dwelling at Nazareth, where he lived with them in 
dutiful subjection, thereby affording a noble example for the imitation of 
ail children, who certainly are bound to yield obedience to their pa- 
rents, since the Son of God himself, when on earth, has set them the pat- 
tern, by practising every branch of filial duty to his earthly parents. 



THE LI-FE OF CHRIST. 



41 



Many persons, of more speculation than piety, may be induced to 
inquire the cause which prevented the evangelists giving us an exact 
detail of the transactions of our blessed Saviour's life from the twelfth 
year of his age till the time of his public ministry. To such we reply, 
that the design of the inspired writers being to instruct rather than 
amuse, they consulted our interests more than our humor and caprice; 
and that, therefore, the wisdom of God, by whose inspiration they 
wrote, demands our admiration, in that they passed over less im- 
portant parts of our Saviour's life, which would have swelled their 
Gospels to an enormous bulk, fit only for the perusal of the studious, 
and those persons who have much vacant time; whereas the four 
Gospels, as they are written, make only a small volume, which is con- 
venient for carriage, for reading, for the memory to retain, as well as 
adapted, by the plainness of their style, to the meanest capacities; 
notwithstanding which they contain all the important transactions of 
our Saviour's life, such as those which relate to his mediatorial office, 
the design of his incarnation, which was to teach us those things 
which belong to our eternal peace and happiness; to instruct us in his 
heavenly doctrines, as our prophet; to offer himself a sacrifice upon 
the cross, as our priest ; and to burst the chains of death, and triumph- 
antly ascend into heaven, as king or head of his church. The 
omissions, therefore, can be of no real consequence, since " These are 
written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, 
and that believing, ye might have life through his name." 

During the obscure state of our blessed Redeemer at Nazareth, the 
Emperor Augustus died in Campania, after a long reign of nearly 
forty years, to the general regret of the whole Roman empire, and 
was succeeded by Tiberius, his step-son, a prince of a very different 
temper of mind from his predecessor. This emperor, in the second 
year of his reign, recalled Rufus from the government of Judea, and 
sent Valerius Gracchus to succeed him. After reigning eleven years, 
Gracchus was recalled, and succeeded by Pontius Pilate, a person 
resembling in disposition his master Tiberius, who was malicious, 
cruel, and covetous. Soon after Pontius Pilate was appointed to the 
government of Judea, John the Baptist began to open his com- 
mission for preparing our Saviour's way before him, according as was 
appointed, by preaching " The baptism of repentance for the remission 
of sins." 

Sacred history has not informed us of the manner in which the 
Baptist spent the former part of his life; but according to ancient 



42 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



tradition, Elizabeth, hearing of Herod's barbarous massacre of the 
infants of Bethlehem, fled into the wilderness to secure the infant 
John, then about eighteen months old, from the relentless cruelty of 
that inhuman monster, and there nurtured him, with all the tender- 
ness of an affectionate mother, within forty days after which, she died* 

His aged father, Zacharias, was slain afterwards, when officiating 
in the temple, by command of the tyrant Herod, for refusing to dis- 
cover the place of his son's abode. The intended harbinger of the 
blessed Jesus being thus deprived of his earthly parents, the Father 
of the fatherless took compassion on him, and sent an angel to defend 
.and support him till he had attained to a sufficient age and strength 
to provide for himself. 

It appears from the accounts of the evangelists, that he dwelt in 
the desert till the time of his public ministry, resembling the ancient 
prophet Elijah, in the meanness of his clothing, and plainness of his 
diet. His dress was composed of camel's hair, his food the sponta- 
neous productions of the wilderness, such as locusts and wild honey, 
and his drink the pure water of some crystal spring. His course of 
life was, indeed, admirably adapted to the doctrine of repentance, 
which he preached, as well as to engage the attention of his hearers ; 
so that it appears highly reasonable that those persons who waited 
the coming of the Messiah with earnest expectation, should flock to 
him, anxious to hear what he had to deliver concerning him. He 
proved very successful in his ministry, as he enforced the doctrine 
of repentance, because the kingdom of heaven was at hand : persons 
of all degrees and professions flocked to him, confessed their sins, 
were baptized in Jordan, and submitted to whatever the prophet 
prescribed as necessary to inherit that kingdom, the approach of 
which he came to declare. Amongst his converts were many of the 
Pharisaical tribe, some of whom confessed their sins, and were bap- 
tized in Jordan. 

The conversion of the Pharisees surprised the Baptist, knowing 
that they maintained a high opinion of their own sanctity, for which 
reason it was very astonishing that they should express any desire of 
obtaining a remission of their sins. In short, he was much sur- 
prised to find the whole nation so affected by his threatenings, espe- 
cially as he knew that they expected salvation on account of their 
being of the seed of Abraham, a conceit which they greatly cherished, 
and which they seemed to have derived from a misrepresentation of 
the following passage : " Thus saith the Lord, who giveth the sun 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



43 



"for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and the stars for 
a light by night ; who divideth the sea, when the waves thereof roar 
the Lord of Hosts is his name. If those ordinances depart from 
before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease 
from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the Lord, if the 
heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth 
searched out beneath, I will also cast off the seed of Israel for all that 
they have done, saith the Lord." 

But the Baptist, to curb this arrogance, called them the " offspring 
of vipers," instead of the " children of Abraham." Perhaps the 
Pharisees and Sadducees applied to John for baptism, thinking by 
that means to avoid the danger they might incur from being the 
avowed enemies of the Messiah, whom they expected to come in all 
the pomp of royalty, and to maintain his superiority by force of arms. 

Thus, by a life of inflexible virtue, discourses nervous and pathetic, 
•exhortations sincere and fervent, and rebukes honest and courageous, 
the Baptist became renowned throughout the region of Judea. Such 
was the admiration of the people at his life and doctrine, that from 
the vision of his father Zacharias in the temple, the arrival of the 
Magi at Jerusalem, the prophecies of Simeon, circumstances recent in 
their memories, they began to conjecture that John might be the 
promised Messiah, and were even ready to pronounce him the 
Redeemer of Israel ; so that, had he aspired to worldly dignity, he 
might for a time have shone in all the grandeur of human pomp, 
and claimed a regard superior to any of the sons of men. But, pious 
in principle, and humble in heart, he could not arrogate honors of 
which he was conscious of his unworthiness ; and therefore honestly 
undeceived his numerous followers^ by assuring them, that so far 
from being the glorious person promised, he was only his forerunner; 
and that such was his own inferiority, that he was unworthy of doing 
his most menial offices. " I indeed baptize you with water ; but one 
mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy 
to unloose." Luke iii. 16. 

During the time of the Baptist's continuance at Bethabara, the 
blessed Jesus left his retirement at Nazareth ; and previous to his 
public ministry repaired to the banks of the river Jordan,* where 

* The river Jordan forms the eastern boundary of the Holy Land. It rises in 
Anti-Libanus, by two sources, and flows south, through several lakes, into the 
Dead Sea. Its course in an air line measures about sixty miles, but the wind- 
ings of the stream make its total length one hundred and twentv miles. IU 



4 4 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



John was executing his commission from above, in order to be there 
baptized by him. We cannot impute this conduct of our Lord to 
any necessity there was for his conforming to the institution of 
baptism; for purity needs no cleansing. It is therefore evident, that 
his motive was to add a sanction to that ordinance, for ever after 
appointed to be the initiating rite of Christianity : "Go, baptize all 
nations/' etc. It appears that John immediately, as it were by a 
prophetic revelation, knew the Saviour of the world ; for we find 
from the evangelist that he acknowledged his superiority, and de- 
clined the office. " I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest 
thou to me ?" Our Lord's answer, though short, is very full and 

expressive : " Suffer it to be so 
now, for thus it becometh us to 
fulfil all righteousness.'' As if he 
had said, Regard not the preced- 
ence at this time, but perform thy 
office ; for it is necessary that we 
should, in the minutest point, con- 
form to the Divine will, by which 
this institution is enjoined. This 
remonstrance removed the objec- 
tions of John, and lie baptized the 
immaculate Jesus in the river Jor- 
dan, in the presence of numerous 
spectators. 

When the ceremony was per- 
formed, as he needed not the in- 
structions usually given on the 
occasion, he went up straightway 
out of the water, and kneeling on the bank of the river, fervently 
addressed his Almighty Father for an abundant effusion of his Holy 
Spirit, as he was now entering on his public ministry, the prelude 
of his important mission, the end of which was the salvation of 
mankind. 

breadth and depth vary greatly ; in spring, when highest, it has been found to be 
one hundred and forty feet wide in some places, and entirely unfordable, with a 
very swift current, and many cataracts. The valley through which it flows, is 
about five miles in width, and is hemmed in by bold cliffs ; the soil is sandy and 
barren, but the banks of the river are covered with a thick undergrowth. 
Several small streams flow into the river. The waters of the Jordan are clear 
and sweet. 




DESCENT OF THE HOLY GHOST 
UPON CHRIST. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



45 



His prayer was heard, his request was granted ; and an immediate 
attestation of thp Divine pleasure given, by a visible ray of glory 
around him, and an audible voice proceeding from the Holy Spirit, 
in the form of a dove, and pronouncing these words, " This is my 
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased !" Distinguishing his 
peculiar approbation of the blessed Jesus, by the epithet i( beloved,' ; 
as well as his standing in that relation to him, in a manner nearer 
than any of the human race, who are called, in common, the so:is of 
men. This voice resembled not any human sound, but was loud and 
awful, like the thunders of heaven, in order to strike with reverence 
the surrounding multitude, and publicly declare the holy mission of 
the promised Messiah. 

The blessed Jesus was called, in the Old Testament, the Son of 
God, but was, on this occasion, declared by the Almighty himself to 
be the long-expected deliverer of Israel. Thus all who were present 
at this marvellous descent of the Holy Spirit, were amply convinced 
of the Divine mission of our blessed Lord, by an infallible testimony 
from above, this being the Star that was to come out of Jacob, and 
the Sceptre that was to rise out of Israel ; the Shiloh foretold by the 
patriarch Jacob ; the Great Prophet, by Moses ; the Holy One, by 
David ; the Prince of Peace, by Isaiah, and the Son of Man. But 
this remarkable event tended much more to the glory of the Messiah 
than all those prophecies, as it was, in some measure, a real display 
of what they could only picture in the dark. 




AN EASTERN DIVAN. 



OS 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER IV. 

COMMENCEMENT OP OUR SAVIOUR'S MINISTRY — HIS TEMPTATION IN THE 
WILDERNESS — DEPUTATION OP THE SANHEDRIM TO JOHN THE BAPTIST — 
FIRST MIRACLE WROUGHT BY THE BLESSED JESUS. 

The great Redeemer, having thus complied with the institution, 
of baptism, and received a most convincing testimony of his heavenly 
Father's approbation, by the miraculous descent and effusion of the 
Holy Ghost upon him while praying on the banks of the Jordan in 
the presence of a multitude of spectators, entered on his public 
ministry at the age of thirty years, according to the custom of the 
priests among the Jews. 

It was apprehended by the people that, as he had just begun his 
public office, he would repair to Jerusalem, the seat of power and 
grandeur, in order to display to the mighty and the learned his 
miraculous abilities and effulgent glories. 

But, averse to human parade, the heavenly-minded Jesus preferred 
solitude to the noise and hurry of public life : he therefore retired 
into the wilderness in order to prepare himself, by fasting, meditation, 
prayer, and sustaining temptation, for the important work on which 
he was entering— the salvation of mankind. 

To promote this grand design, the evangelists write that this 
retirement into the wilderness was in consequence of the immediate 
direction of the Divine Spirit. Though solitude itself is melancholy, 
the blessed Jesus added to the dismal scene by retiring to a barren 
spot surrounded by high and craggy mountains, forming a dark and 
gloomy chaos. 

In this wild and dreary situation the great Redeemer, as Moses 
and Elijah had done before him, fasted forty days and forty nights, 
maintained an incessant communion with his heavenly Father, 
digested the doctrine he was about to deliver, and the obedience 
he came to perform, and, by a total abstinence from food for forty 
days and forty nights, evinced the Divinity of his mission, or, in 
other Avords, proved that he was a " teacher come from God." But 
the melancholy solitude of a desert, and the extremes of hunger and 
thirst, were but a small part of our Saviour's sufferings in the 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



47 



wilderness : Satan, that implacable foe to mankind, was permitted to 
buffet him with the most insinuating wiles, and assail him. with the 
most alluring temptations, in order to attempt the defeat of Heaven's 
most gracious designs, and keep mankind under the dreadful domin- 
ion of sin and death. 

The enemies of Revelation have not failed to represent this event 
in the most ludicrous manner. If any, therefore, should demand 
why God permitted his only Son, the Saviour of the world, to be 
tempted by the devil, whose power was deemed to be restrained, we 
reply as follows : — One cause of the Redeemer's being suffered to be 
tempted, was, that he, being personally acquainted with the wiles of 
Satan, might become a faithful and compassionate high-priest, know 
how to succor his people in time of adversity, and pity them when 
they fell into temptations. That in order to be a shining pattern of 
every virtue, also a wise and valiant general, the blessed Redeemer 
underwent all the difficulties and trials attending his service ; that 
we, being animated by his glorious example, might not sink under 
the pressure and troubles which God, for our good, should be pleased 
to lay upon us. 

The Saviour of the world hath not only been exposed to poverty 
and ridicule, but also to the most trying temptations of Satan ; that 
as the Captain of our Salvation has undergone the same, we ought 
not to faint when we are tempted, but like him be able to withstand 
the fiery darts of the devil. It doubtless appears highly proper, in 
order that our blessed Lord and Master might both enter upon and 
prosecute his ministry with more glory to himself and advantage to 
mankind, that he should previously overcome the most subtle arts of 
that deceiver who, under the mask of a serpent, seduced our first 
parents, and involved them and their posterity in one common ruin. 
But, at the expiration of the forty days, when the blessed Jesus had 
endured the keenest hunger, the tempter, to make proof of the divinity 
of his mission, insolently demanded why he bore the sensation of 
hunger, since, if he was the Son of God, he must have power 
to change the stones of that dreary wilderness into bread ; 
and, by so marvellous a transmutation, he might have the satisfac- 
tion of knowing the truth of what was said concerning him at his 
baptism. 

But our blessed Saviour repelled this device by citing the words 
of Moses, which implied that God, whenever it seemed good in his 
Right, could, by extraordinary means, provide for the support of the 



■48 



TEE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



human race. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every 
word of God." Luke iv. 4. 

Satan being defeated in his effort, took him to the top of a very 
high mountain, and, thinking to work on him by another artifice, 
showed a bright view of all the kingdoms of the world, with all their 
alluring glories, promising him universal empire over them if he 
would bow down and yield him the honor of the benefaction. 

But observe his accursed pride and arrogance in promising that 
which is the gift of God alone — universal empire over the earth; and 
requiring what was due to none but the Supreme — religious homage. 
This blasphemy, as well as insolence, incited the blessed Jesus to 
exert his divine authority and command him, in a peremptory 
manner, to desist ; citing this special injunction from sacred writ, 
iC Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou 
serve." Though thus repelled, he repeated the attempt, and, having 
taken our Lord to Jerusalem, placed him on the pinnacle of the 
temple, and, by a taunt of insolence, urged him to prove the truth of 
his mission by casting himself down from thence ; citing, as an 
encouragement for him to comply with his desire, the words of the 
inspired Psalmist: " If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down; 
for it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and 
in their hands shall they bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy 
ibot against a stone." Matt. iv. 6. But our Saviour soon baffled 
this attempt by another apt quotation from Scripture : " Thou shalt 
not tempt the Lord thy God." Matt. iv. 7. Thou shalt not provoke 
the Lord, either by disobeying his command or by an impertinent 
curiosity to know more concerning his mind and will than he is 
pleased to reveal. 

Thus baffled in all his arts and devices, by the wisdom and power 
of the Son of God, he departed from him, and a host of celestial 
spirits, despatched from the regions of bliss, came and ministered 
refreshment to our Saviour after his victory over the great enemy and 
deceiver of mankind. 

Hence, notwithstanding the ridicule of the infidel, Christians may 
derive great encouragement to fight manfully against the flesh, the 
world, and the devil, under the banner of the great Captain of their 
salvation, who is ever ready to supply them with spiritual armor to 
sustain the combat with that inveterate and subtle foe whose devices 
he has experienced — being in every respect tempted like them. 

During the time of our Saviour's retirement in the wilderness, 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



his faithful harbinger, the Baptist, being assured, from the miraculous 
descent of the Holy Spirit and other concurring testimonies, that 
Jesus was the promised and long-expected Messiah, continued 
publishing his mission to* the multitude ; so that the rulers in 
Jerusalem received information of the surprising events that had 
happened in Bethabara, beyond Jordan, before they saw the blessed 
Jesus, in confirmation of whose mission and doctrine they were 
effected. Prompted by curiosity, they despatched a deputation of 
priests and Levites' to the Baptist, to demand of him whether he was 
the Messiah or Elias, or that prophet who was to rise from the dead 
and precede the Messiah, the powerful Prince so earnestly expected 
by the whole nation of Israel. 

The Baptist frankly replied that he was not the Messiah whom 
they expected, nor Elias, who, as they vainly thought, would per- 
sonally appear among them, nor any other prophet risen from the 
dead ; but at the same time, hinted to them that, though he was not 
Elias himself, yet he was that person spoken of by the prophet 
Isaiah, and him of whom he thus prophesied : " The voice of him 
that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make 
straight in the desert a highway for our God." Isa. xl. 3. 

The priests and Levites, not sufficiently gratified with this reply 
of the Baptist, demanded of him why he assumed the power of 
baptizing the people if he was neither the Messiah, nor Elias, nor 
any of the ancient prophets risen from the dead ? To this demand 
John answered, I indeed baptize to show the necessity of repent- 
ance, but my baptism is only that of water, and wholly ineffectual in 
itself to the remission of sins; whereas that washing foretold by 
Zacharias, which is of most sovereign effect, is not my province, but 
solely that of the Mecsiah, for whom I am not worthy to perform 
the meanest offices, and who is actually upon earth, and among you, 
though ye know him not, because he hath not manifested himself 
unto the world. 

The day after the departure of the priests and Levites from 
Bethabara, our blessed Lord left the wilderness and repaired thither 
himself, while John was yet baptizing and preaching the doctrine of 
repentance. 

The Baptist, as his grand business was to direct all persons to the 
Messiah for life and salvation in and through him, embraced this 
seasonable opportunity of pointing him out to the multitude: "Behold 
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world V Lest 

4 



bo 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



i 



the attending crowd should surmise that it had been previously con- 
certed between Jesus and John, that the former should assume, and 
the latter give him, the appellation of Messiah, he publicly and 
Bolemnly declared that he was, equally with them, ignorant of the 
pretensions of Jesus to that high character until he saw the miracu- 
lous descent of the Holy Ghost, and heard him pronounced, in the 
most awful manner, the Son of God. "And John bare record, say- 
ing, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it 
abode upon him. And I knew him not: bur he that sent me to 
baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt 
see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which 
baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bare record that 
this is the Son of God." John i. 32, etc. 

The Baptist having made this public declaration, the Messiah left 
Bethabara, but returned the day following, and John, happening to 
stand with two of his followers on the bank of the river Jordan, 
pointed to him as he passed, and in a pious rapture repeated what he 
had addressed to the multitude the preceding day, "Behold the 
Lamb of God." It is hence imagined that these two disciples or 
followers of the Baptist, were absent at the time of the descent of the 
Holy Ghost, and for that reason this method was taken of pointing 
out to them the person of the promised Redeemer. 

Animated with an ardent desire of hearing, as well as seeing, this 
extraordinary person, they left John, and followed Jesus, who, con- 
scious of their design, turned about, and with the utmost affability 
gave them an invitation to the place of his residence. The evangelist 
John informs us that one of these disciples was Andrew, the brother 
of Simon Peter; and it is conjectured from his silence that himself 
was the other; for it is remarkable that, in his writings, he has studi- 
ously concealed his own name. Be that as it may, it is abundantly 
evident that the testimony of the Baptist, added to the tokens he had 
from the blessed Jesus in the course of his converse with him, amply 
satisfied ' Andrew that he was indeed the promised Messiah, the 
Saviour and Redeemer of lost and perishing sinners. 

Andrew soon after found his brother Peter and brought him to 
our blessed Lord, who immediately called him by his name, telling 
him that he should afterward be called Cephas (which signifies a 
rock), from his firm resolution of mind, and also because he should 
contribute toward the foundation of the Christian church. 

Some time after, Jesus met with Philip, an inhabitant of the town 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



51 



of Bethsaida, and said unto him, H Follow inc." Philip immediately 
obeyed the divine command, having heard of the character and 
mission of our blessed Saviour. It is supposed that this disciple was 
present at the miraculous descent of the Holy Spirit on our Lord at 
his baptism, which being admitted, his compliance with his call is no 
matter of admiration. 

Philip, meeting with Nathanael, an inhabitant of Cana, a town of 
Gaiilee ; informed him of the actual coming of the long-expected 
Messiah, that great Deliverer of Israel spoken of by Moses and the 
ancient prophets, " Jesus of [Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nathanael 
was assured, from the predictions concerning the Messiah, that he 
was to be descended from the line of David and born in the city of 
Bethlehem, and therefore discovered an amazement at his being 
called Jesus of Nazareth : " Can any good thing come out of Naza- 
reth ? ? * Can that most contemptible of places, Nazareth, be supposed 
to have given birth to the mighty Saviour, the Prince of Peace, 
especially as it was expressly foretold by the prophet that he was to 
be born in Bethlehem, tho city of David ? 

Notwithstanding the improbability of such an event, Nathanael 
listened to Philip, and determined on an examination of the person 
whom he said was the promised Messiah. Accordingly, under his 
direction, he repaired to the blessed Jesus, who, knowing his charac- 
ter, saluted him on his approach with this honorable appellation : 
" Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile !' ; 

Nathanael, amazed at our Lord's pertinent address, as he had never 
before seen him, asked by what means he obtained such precise 
knowledge of him. Our Lord replied, he had seen him under the 
fig-tree. Probably Nathanael had been praying under the fig-tree, 
and been overheard by our Lord, who, from the substance of his 
prayer, thus concluded his character; for when Jesus informed him 
that he gave him that character on account of what had passed under 
the fig-tree, Nathanael perceived that he knew not only what had 
passed at a distance, but had access to the inmost thoughts of the 
heart, a property not allotted to mortals, and therefore exclaimed, 
with rapture, " Habbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of 
Israel." 

Our Saviour then told him he should hereafter have much stronger 
testimonials of the divinity of his mission, when he should be eye- 
witness to what the old patriarch Jacob had before seen in a vision — 
the angels of heaven descending and ascending, to attend the person 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST 



and execute the commands of the Son of Man : an appellation 
our blessed Lord assumed, not only as considering his humanity, 
but in order to fulfil most peremptorily that remarkable pre- 
diction of the prophet Daniel concerning him: "I saw in the 
night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with 
the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and 
they brought him near before him. And there was given him 
dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and 
languages should serve him ; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, 
which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not 
be destroyed." Dan. vii. 13, 14. 

These glowing prophecies of the Messiah beam like morning stars 
through the shadows of the old dispensation, and tell of the rising 
dawn. There was an expectation, a waiting, a longing, the weary 
world sighing for a new life. Strange that predictions should be so 
sisrnallv fulfilled, and men should not know it. 

The great Redeemer, having attested the divinity of his mission 
by many incontestable evidences, and made five disciples, departed 
for Galilee, where, soon after his arrival, he was invited, with his 
mother and disciples, to a marriage-feast at Cana, a place near 
Nazareth. At these nuptials there happened to be a scarcity of 
wine, and his mother, who interested herself in the conduct of the 
feast, and was therefore desirous that every thing should be done 
with decorum, applied to her Son, hoping he would be able to remedy 
the defect. She had doubtless conceived he had the power of working 
miracles, and was therefore desirous that he would give proof of his 
ability in the presence of her friends, who were assembled at the 
marriage. 

Addressing herself, therefore, to her Son, she represented to him 
that they had no wine. Onr Lord gently reproved her, in these 
words: " Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not 
yet come : " that is, The time or period of my public ministry is 
not yet arrived ; nor is it time yet for me to display my supernatural 
powers. 

Notwithstanding this mild reproof, his mother still entertained an 
opinion that he would interest himself in behalf of her and the 
company, and therefore ordered the servants punctually to obey his 
commands. 

Our blessed Lord, being assured that working a miracle would 
greatly tend to confirm the faith of his young disciples, exerted his 



54 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



divine power, by ordering the servants to fill six water-pots, con- 
taining each about twenty gallons, with water ; which was no sooner 
done than the whole was converted into excellent wine. 

He then desired them to draw, and bear to the governor of the 
feast; who. being ignorant of the miracle that had been wrought, 
and astonished at the preference of this wine to that which had 
been served up at the beginning of the feast, addressed himself to 
the bridegroom, in the hearing of the whole company, telling him 
that, contrary to the usual custom, he had reserved the best wine to 
the last; at the same time commending so judicious a practice, as a 
plain proof of his approbation of his friends present at the entertain- 
ment. The bridegroom was equally surprised at the address of the 
governor of the feast, and the occasion of it, which was effected by 
the supernatural power of our blessed Lord. 

This miracle, which was the first wrought by Jesus, confirmed the 
faith of his followers, and spread his renown throughout the adjacent 
country. 

The blessed Jesus having thus, by divers means, confirmed the 
faith of his disciples, and attested the truth and the divinity of his 
mission amongst those with whom he had been brought up, departed 
from Cana, and proceeded towards Jerusalem, in order to keep the 
approaching Passover. 




JESUS DRIVES OUT THE MONEY-CHANGERS. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



55 



CHAPTER V. 

EXPULSION OF THE PROFANERS OF THE TEMPLE — JESUS VISITS AND DISPUTES 
WITH NICODEMUS — BAPTIZES IN JUDEA — INSTRUCTS A POOR SAMARITAN — 
HEALS A SICK PERSON AT CAPERNAUM— RETIRES AGAIN TO NAZARETH, AND IS 
EXPELLED THENCE BY HIS IMPIOUS COUNTRYMEN. 

Our blessed Lord, immediately on his arrival at Jerusalem, 
repaired to the temple ; where he was shocked at beholding a place 
dedicated to the solemn service of Almighty God prostituted to 
purposes of fraud and avarice, and become the resort of traders of 
every kind. Such abuse could not long escape his notice and 
correction ; having an absolute right to chastise so flagrant a perver- 
sion of a place that, strictly speaking, was his own. " The Lord, 
whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the Mes- 
senger of the Covenant, whom ye delight in : Behold, he shall come, 
saith the Lord of Hosts." Accordingly, the blessed Jesus, whose 
pious soul was vexed at their profanation of the sacred place, drove 
out the traders, and overset the tables of the money-changers ; saying 
unto them that sold doves, " Take these things hence ; make not my 
Father's house a house of merchandise." 

These mercenary wretches appeared to have been struck at once 
with a consciousness of their guilt, and the severity of our Lord's 
reproof, as they immediately departed without making the least 
resistance. 

But our Lord's conduct in this affair carrying with it every token 
of zeal, for which the ancient prophets were so remarkable, the 
council assembled, and determined to inquire by what authority he 
attempted such a reformation, requiring at the same time a demon- 
strative proof of the divinity of his commission. To gratify their 
curiosity, our blessed Lord referred them only to the miracle of his own 
resurrection: " Destroy," says he, laying his hand on his breast, "this 
temple, and I will raise it up in three days." The rulers mistaking 
his meaning, imagined that he referred to the superb and lofty temple 
finished by Herod; and therefore told him such a relation was highly 
improbable, nor had they the least reason to think he could possibly 
rebuild in three days that magnificent structure, which had been 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



finished at immense expense, and was the labor of forty and six 
years. 

Though the blessed Jesus declined compliance with the request 
of the mighty and noble amongst the inhabitants of Jerusalem, he 
wrought several miracles in the presence of the common people, in 
order to confirm the doctrines he delivered, and prove the divinity 
of his mission. As there had not been any miracles wrought 
amongst them for a considerable time, though many were recorded 
in their sacred books, they beheld our blessed Lord with amazement 
and veneration ; and numbers were satisfied that he was the long- 
promised Messiah, the desired of all nations, so often foretold by the 
ancient prophets. For wise reasons, however, he did not publicly 
discover that he was the Great Prophet, as he knew that the faith of 
numbers was yet but weak, and that consequently many would desert 
his cause when they found he was opposed by the Sanhedrim, or 
great council of the nation, and did not set up a worldly kingdom, as 
they thought the expected Messiah was to do. But the miracles 
wrought by the holy Jesus did not excite the wonder and astonish- 
ment of the common and illiterate class of the people alone. 

Nicodemus, a principal person among them, on impartial reflection 
upon his wondrous works, so astonishing in their nature, so demon- 
strative in their proof, so salutary in their effect, so happily adapted 
to the confirmation of his doctrines, and so perfectly agreeable to the 
attributes of Deity, as well as the predictions of the ancient prophets 
concerning the Messiah, the Sun of Righteousness, who was to rise 
with healing in his wings, was perfectly assured that nothing less 
than Omnipotence itself could produce such wonders ; and thence, 
like many others of his countrymen, concluded that Jesus was of a 
truth the Son, and sent of God, which last term is the meaning of 
the word Messiah. But scruples still arose in his mind, when, on 
the other hand he considered the obscurity of his birth, and the 
meanness of his appearance ; so different from the exalted notions the 
people of the Jews always entertained concerning this powerful 
Prince, who was to erect his throne in the mighty city of Jerusalem, 
and subject to his dominion all the states and kingdoms of the earth. 
To remove, therefore, these scruples, and solve these perplexing 
doubts, Nicodemus resolved on an interview with the blessed Jesus; 
but desiring to conceal his visit from the other members of the 
Sanhedrim, who were greatly averse to his person and doctrine, he 
chose the night as most convenient for that purpose. 



THE LIFE OP CHRIST. 



His salutation of the mighty Redeemer of Israel was this: "Rabbi, 
we know that thou art a teacher come from God ; for no man can do- 
these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." John iii. 2. 
Rabbi, I am sufficiently convinced that thou art immediately sent 
as a teacher from on high ; for nothing less than power Divine could 
enable thee to perform the miracles which thou hast wrought in the 
presence of multitudes. But this salutation by no means implies 
that Nicodemus thought Jesus the great promised Messiah, even the 
Redeemer of Israel : nor could he obtain that knowledge till it was 
revealed to him by the blessed Spirit of God. 

We may observe, that our Saviour, waiving all formality and 
circumlocution, which tend to no real profit, immediately preaches to= 
this noted rabbi the first great doctrine of Christianity— Regeneration : 
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again, he can- 
not see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus, I declare unto thee, as a 
truth of the last importance ; verily, verily, unless a man be regener- 
ated in the spirit of his mind, have his will and affections transferred 
from earthly to spiritual objects, he cannot see the kingdom of God, 
which is holy and spiritual in its nature and enjoyments. This was 
a mysterious system to the rabbi, whose religious views extended no 
further than rites and ceremonies, and were bounded by time and 
space ; besides he thought the very position of our Lord an absurdity 
in terms. "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he 
enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" Our 
Lord replies to this question, " Except a man be born of water, and 
of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." The 
regeneration which I preach unto you is not of a natural, but of a 
spiritual nature : unless a man embraces the Christian religion and 
doctrines, whose initiating ordinance is baptism, and becomes the 
subject of Divine grace, he cannot be an heir of Divine glory: which 
consists not in earthly splendor, and the gratifications of the meaner 
passions, but in an exemption from whatever is earthly, sensual, and 
sinful; and the prosecution of whatever is heavenly, holy, and 
spiritual. " That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; but that which 
is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye 
must be born again." It is a truth that you are all concerned in, 
therefore, wonder not at my doctrine of regeneration, which is 
designed to inform you, that you derive no excellence from your 
boasted descent from Abraham; as such you are merely earthly, 
mbjeet to sins and infirmities of every kind ; as well as to show that? 



63 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



you must undergo a spiritual and mental regeneration, a renovation 
of the heart, which changes the whole man, and fits you for the 
participation of heavenly blessedness. This important work is like- 
wise spiritual in its operation, unseen by mortal eyes, being wrought 
on the mind or heart of man by the powerful influences of the Holy 
Spirit, which change his nature ; and with respect to eternal things, 
make him another, a new creature. " The wind bloweth where it 
listeth, and thou nearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence 
it cometh, and whither it goeth : so is every one that is born of the 
Spirit. 

Notwithstanding this explanation of the blessed Jesus, Nicodemus 
was so prepossessed with partiality towards the Jews, who, on ac- 
count of their alliance to Abraham, thought they were the people of 
God, entitled to heaven, and consequently in no need of this new 
operation of the mind, called regeneration, that he again demanded, 
" How can these things be ?" The Divine Instructor then reproves 
his dulness and misapprehension of what he had so clearly explained 
and propounded to him, especially as he was himself a teacher of the 
people, and one of the great council of the nation. "Art thou a 
master in Israel, and knowest not these things?' 7 The doctrines I 
deliver are not fiction and mere surmise, but founded on eternal 
truth, immediately revealed from God, and consistent with the will 
of heaven. I am witness to the same, and therefore affirm that 
such testimony is sufficient to render them valid. But your preju- 
dices still prevail, nor can your unbelief be conquered by all the 
arguments I can advance. "We speak that we do know, and testify 
that we have seen ; and ye receive not our witness." If ye thus re- 
ject the first principles of the Christian religion, such as the necessity 
of regeneration, or the influence of the Spirit of God upon the heart 
of man, how will ye believe the sublimer truths I shall hereafter 
deliver concerning the kingdom of God, or state of the saints in 
glory ? If I inform you of spiritual transactions in this lower world, 
and ye believe not, how can ye believe if I tell you of those things 
which relate solely to another and a heavenly state? But to con- 
firm your belief in what I have delivered, know that my assured 
knowledge of these things is derived from the Father of Light, the 
God of Truth, by whom I am vested with gifts superior to any of the ' 
ancient prophets. 

No man hath ascended the regions of immortality, and descended 
from thence, but " the Son of Man/' consequently no man but the Son 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



59 



cof Man can, with truth and certainty, reveal the immediate will of 
•the Father, who is in heaven. Your great lawgiver, Moses, as- 
cended not there — Mount Sinai was the summit of his elevation ; 
whereas the Son of Man, who was in heaven, and came down from 
thence, with a Divine commission to sinful mortals, had the most 
clear and convincing proofs of the will of his Almighty Father, 
.penetrated into the designs of infinite wisdom and grace, and conse- 
quently must be higher than any other prophet, being, in a peculiar 
sense, the prophet of the Most High God, or angel of his presence. 

The Divine Preacher, who spake as no man ever spake, likewise 
labors to eradicate the favorite principles of the Jews, I mean that of 
confining all blessings, temporal and eternal, to their own nation and 
people, as well as to show the vanity of expecting the appearance of 
the Messiah in pomp and magnificence. 

To effect this glorious design, he lays open to the rabbi, that it was 
^agreeable both to the doctrines of Moses, as well as the will of God, 
that the Redeemer, in this state of mortality, should be exposed to 
poverty and distress of every kind ; that his conquests were not to 
be of a temporal nature, over the hearts and will of men ; that his 
throne was not to be establisheel in the earthly, but the heavenly 
Jerusalem ; previous to which he was to shed his blood, as, by virtue 
of the same, all, of every nation and kingdom throughout the earth, 
might pass into the heavenly world, and there, for ever, provided 
they relieel on his merits, and conformed their lives to the doctrines he 
preached, enjoy that perfection of bliss, which through his sufferings 
was provided for them by God himself, to all eternity. 

This is the sum and substance of Christianity ; this is the sum and 
substance of what our blessed Lord preached to Nicodemus, that 
great ruler and teacher of the Jews ; a sermon comprehending the 
whole of what is necessary to be taught, notwithstanding religion is 
■at this day rent to pieces by sectaries, each of whom invents some 
new-fangled doctrine, suggested by ignorance or presumption, or both 
united. 

That God Almighty, the Father, out of his unsnpplicated, un- 
merited grace and mercy to the sinful race of men, sent his only- 
begotten Son, to purchase eternal life through the effusion of his own 
blood, for all of every nation and kingdom throughout the earth, 
who should believe in the divinity of his mission, and the efficacy of 
his atonement, and, in consequence of that faith, conform, as far as 
the infirmities of sinful nature will permit, to the rules of his gospel 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



'? Only let your conversation be as becometh the gospel of Christ." 
Condemnation, justly passed on all transgressors of the law of God, 
'(which are all mankind,) can alone be averted according to the 
Divine institution, the propriety of which is the height of impiety 
and presumption to call in question, by faith in the blessed Jesus, 
such a faith as we have just explained. "He that believeth on him 
is not condemned ; but he that believeth not is condemned already, 
because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of 
God." 

It appears from the future conduct of JSTicodemus, that, instead of 
supposing that Jesus w^as merely a teacher come from God, he was 
fully convinced that he was the Messiah, the Redeemer of Israel ; for 
he afterwards constantly espoused his cause in the great council of 
the nation ; and when his countrymen put him to an ignominious 
death, he, together with Joseph of Arimathea, conveyed him to 
burial, when all others had forsaken him. 

The time of the passover at Jerusalem being expired, Jesus, 
together with his disciples, withdrew into the remote parts of Judea, 
where he continued a considerable time, preaching the kingdom of 
God, and baptizing the new converts. John the Baptist being also 
at the same time, baptizing in the river Enon, a dispute arose be- 
tween his disciples and certain Jews, concerning the preference of the 
baptism of Jesus. 

Being unable to decide the point, they referred it to the opinion of 
John, on which the pious Baptist immediately declared that he was 
only the harbinger of the great Messiah, who baptized not only with 
water, but with the Holy Spirit ; adding, that his own ministry was 
on the decline, as the beauty of the morning-star, the harbinger of 
the sun, decreases when that fountain of light but dawns in the 
chambers of the east. 

The Baptist likewise mentioned to his disciples and hearers many 
circumstances tending to prove the divinity of the mission of the 
Holy Jesus, and the important design of his incarnation. "He that 
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, but he that believeth not 
on the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." 

The Baptist, after having publicly preached the great doctrine of 
salvation through faith in Jesus, departed from the wilderness of 
Judea, where he had continued a considerable time, and went into 
Galilee, often repairing to the court of Herod, who esteemed, or 
affected to esteem, both his preaching and person. But John, being 



62 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



faithful in his ministry, could not fail to remonstrate on the impietjr 
and injustice of a known practice of Herod,* his cohabiting with 
Herodias, his brother Philip's wife ; and thereby incurring the dis- 
pleasure of that ambitious woman, he was, at her instance, cast into 
prison, there to be reserved for future destruction. 

Whilst these things happened in Galilee, our blessed Lord con- 
tinued preaching in the wilderness, whither great numbers resorted, 
attracted by curiosity, to see the great miracles which fame re- 
ported he daily wrought. The success of his ministry exciting the 
envy of the hypocritical tribe of Pharisees, our blessed Lord thought 
proper to retire into Galilee, in order to promote the design of his 
mission in those parts. In the course of his journey, being weary 
with travelling in so warm a country, and very thirsty, he sat down, 
in Samaria, by a celebrated well, given by the old patriarch Jacob to 
his son Joseph, while his disciples were gone to the city to procure 
provisions. 

While the humble Jesus sat by the well-side, a woman, a native of 
the country, came with her pitcher to fetch water, and our Lord 
requested of her to give him to drink. The appearance of Jesus 
astonished the woman, because she knew him to be a Jew, and the 
Samaritans were held in the utmost contempt by those people, who, 
indeed, arrogated a preference to all nations upon earth. But though 
she knew him to be a Jew, she knew not that he was the Son of God, 
full of grace and truth, divested of human prejudices, and the very 

* " Herod Antipas was the son of Herod the Great by Malthace, a Samaritan. 
His father had originally destined him as his successor in the kingdom, but by 
the last change of his will, appointed him 'tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea.' He 
first, married a daughter of Aretas, ' king of Arabia Petrsea,' but after some time 
he made overtures of marriage to Herodias, the wife of his half-brother, Herod 
Philip, which she received favorably. Aretas indignant at the insult offered to 
his daughter, found a pretext for invading the territory of Herod, and defeated 
him with great loss. This defeat, according to the famous passage in Josephus,was ■ 
attributed by many to the murder of John the Baptist, which had been committed 
b}' Herod a short time before, under the influence of Herodias. At a later time, the 
ambition of Herodias proved the cause of her husband's ruin. She urged him 
to go to Rome to obtain the title of kin?, but he was opposed at the court of 
Caligula by the emissaries of Agrippa, and condemned to perpetual banishment 
at Lngdunum, a. d. 09. Herodias voluntarily shared his punishment, and died 
in exile. Pilate took occasion, from our Lord's residence in Galilee, to send Him 
for examination to Herod Antipas, who came up to Jerusalem to celebrate the 
Passover. The city of Tiberius, which Antipas founded, and named in honor 
of the Emperor, was the most conspicuous monument of his long reign." — Br. 
Wm. Smith. 



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63 



essence of humility and every virtue. As the design *of his mission 
and incarnation was to promote the real happiness of mankind, ho 
embraced every opportunity of enforcing his salutary doctrines, and, 
therefore, though his thirst was extreme, he delayed its gratification, 
in order to inform this woman, though of an infamous character, of 
the means by which she might obtain living water, or, in other words, 
eternal life. As the best method to effect this purpose, he gave her 
to understand, that had she known the character of the supplicant, 
she would have eagerly satisfied his desire, and been retaliated by a 
gift the most invaluable, even living water, issuing from the well of 
eternal salvation. 

The woman, taking his words in the common acceptation, imagin- 
ing that he suggested his power of supplying her with water flowing 
from a perpetual spring, which, in that parched climate, appeared 
impossible, demanded of him, if he was vested with a power superior 
to their father Jacob, who dug this well, drank out of it with his 
family, and left it for the benefit of posterity. 

The Saviour and friend of mankind, still benign in his purpose 
towards this poor sinner, replied, " That all who drank of the water 
of Jacob's well would thirst again, being but a temporary allay of a 
desire incident to human nature ; whereas those who drank of tho 
water which he was ready to dispense, should never thirst; becausa 
that water flowed from the inexhaustible fountain of Divine grace,, 
and could not be drained but with immensity itself." 

Though this great preacher of Israel, by a simple and natural 
allegory, displayed the power of Divine grace, the woman, ignorant 
of the illusion and meaning of the Saviour, desired of him that water, 
that she might not thirst in future, nor have occasion to come to 
Jacob's well daily for water. To show her the malignity of her 
presumption, in turning into contempt the discourse of him who had 
the words of eternal life, the blessed Jesus, by some pertinent ques- 
tions and replies, evinced his knowledge of her infamous course of 
life, and by that means convinced her that he acted under an influ- 
ence more than human. To evade, however, the present subject of 
discourse, which filled her with a degree of awe and fear, she pro- 
posed to his discussion a case long warmly contested between the Jews 
and Samaritans, whether Mount Gerizim, or the city of Jerusalem, 
was destined by God, as the place peculiarly set apart for religious 
worship? Our blessed Lord replied to this evasive, as well as- 
insignificant question, that it was not the place, but the manner in 



04 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



which adoration was offered to the Father of Spirits, that rendered 
such worship acceptable ; observing, that " God is a Spirit, and they 
that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. John 
iv. 24. 

In consequence of this reply to her, which apparently referred to 
things spiritual and eternal, she informed the blessed Jesus of her 
expectation of the arrival of the promised Messiah, who should 
punctually inform them concerning theso points so long undecisively 
contested. 

Our Lord, embracing the opportunity of preaching himself to this 
poor woman, as the Saviour of sinners, replied, without hesitation, 
" I that speak unto thee am he." 

While Jesus continued talking w 7 ith the woman, his disciples re- 
turned, and approached him at the very time when he told the wo- 
man that he was the Messiah. Though they were astonished at his 
condescension in conversing with an inhabitant of Samaria,* and 

* The term Samaria, as vised in the New Testament, does not apply only to 
the city of that name, but to the remnant of the once extensive territory of the 
Ten Tribes, over whom Jeroboam made himself king (1 Kings xiii. 82). The 
city of Samaria stood on the summit of a steep hill, with a long, flat top, which 
rises in the centre of a wide, basin-shaped valley, which lies six miles to the north- 
west of Schechem and almost on the edge of the great plain which borders the 
Mediterranean. Omri chose this hill for the site of the capital of Israel, after 
the separation from Judah (1 Kings xvi. 23, 24). 

After the separation a feeling of dislike, which gradually deepened into hatred, 
sprang up between the Jews, or people of the kingdom of Judah, and the Ten 
Tribes, or Samaritans. The latter kingdom suffered many evils from which Judah 
was exempt. In 721 B. C, Thalmaneser, king of Assyria, took the city of Samaria, 
after a siege of three years, and put an end to the kingdom of the Ten Tribes. 
The Samaritans now began that promiscuous intermingling with the Gentiles, 
partly forced upon them, and partly their own choice, which put an end to their 
race as of the pure stock of Israel. They passed through many vicissitudes, and 
eventually became more Assyrian than Israelitish. At the rebuilding of the 
temple, upon the return of Judah from captivity, the Samaritans desired to be 
allowed to assist in this work, but were refused, and endeavored to impede it by 
all the means in their power. The feud thus begun, was never healed. About 
409 B. C, one Manasseh, a Jew of priestly lineage, who had been expelled from 
Jerusalem by Nehemiah for an unlawful marriage, came to Samaria, where he 
was well received. He sought and obtained permission from the Persian king, 
who was master of the whole land, to build a Temple for the Samaritans on 
Mount Gerizim. This Temple the Samaritans regarded as superior to that of 
Jerusalem. They conducted their worship according to the Mosaic law, and 
sacrificed the Passover on this mountain. They received the five books of 
Moses as authority, but rejected all the other books in the Jewish Canon. The 
Jews, on their part, denounced the Samaritans as outcasts and apostates, and 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 




AN EASTERN WELL. 



even of instructing her in the doctrines of religion, none presumed to 
ask him why he conversed with one who was an enemy to the Jews, 
and the worship in the temple at Jerusalem ? But the woman hear- 
ing Jesus call himself the Messiah, left her pitcher, and ran into the 
city, to publish the glad tidings, that the great Deliverer of mankind 
was then sitting by the well of Jacob, and had told her all the secret 
transactions of her life. 

This report astonished the Samaritans, and, at the same time, 
roused their curiosity to see a person foretold by Moses and the 
prophets, and of whose appearance there was then so universal an 
expectation. The disciples, on their return, set before their Master 
the provision they had purchased ; but he, wholly absorbed in medi- 
tation, refused the refreshment so highly requisite, telling them he 
had " meat to eat that they knew nothing of." 

This unexpected answer surprised his disciples ; who, understand- 
ing his words in their natural sense, asked one another, whether any 

regarded them with the utmost contempt. In 130 B. C, the Samaritan temple 
was destroyed, but the people of that race continued to maintain their national 
existence down to the time of our Lord, although it had been more than seven 
hundred years since they had been planted in Samaria by the Assyrian king. 
They lay just in the midst of the Jews, but did not coalesce with them, and though 
their temple had been destroyed, still worshipped towards the mount on which it 
had stood. The Saviour seems to have manifested a special tenderness upon all 
occasions towards these lost sheep of the House of Israel. 
5 



6G 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



person had, during their absence, supplied him with provisions? 
But Jesus soon explained the mystery, by telling them that he did 
not mean natural, but spiritual food; that to execute the commission 
he had received from his Father, was far better to him than meat or 
drink; and the satisfaction he was going to receive from the conver- 
sion of the Samaritans, much greater than any sensual enjoyments. 

Many of the Samaritans were now near Jesus, who, lifting up his 
eves, and seeing the ways crowded with people coming to him from 
the city, he stretched out his benevolent hands towards them, and ad- 
dressed his disciples in the following manner: — "Say not ye, There 
are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto 
you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white 
already to harvest." John iv. 35. — Behold yonder multitudes, 
how they are thronging to hear the word, which has only a few 
minutes been sown in their hearts! It is not, therefore, always 
necessary to wait with patience for the effect ; for it sometimes immedi- 
ately follows the cause. To gather this spiritual harvest, and finish 
the work of him that sent me, is my proper food; adding, for the 
encouragement of his disciples, as you have labored with me in the 
harvest of souls, so shall you participate in the great recompense of 
eternal rewards: "He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth 
fruit unto life eternal ; that both he that soweth and he that reapeth 
may rejoice together." John iv. 36. 

Many of the people had been so affected at the words of the wo- 
man, that they were fully persuaded that Jesus could be no other 
than the great Messiah; accordingly their first request was, that he 
would deign to take up his residence in their city; the compassionate 
Redeemer of the human race so far complied, as to stay with them 
two days, an interval which he spent in preaching to them the king- 
dom of God : so that the greatest part of the city embraced the doctrine 
of the gospel; and, at his departure, said unto the woman, "Xow we 
believe, not because of thy saying; for we have heard him ourselves, 
and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world." 
John iv. 42. 

Having accomplished his gracious design in Samaria, Jesus con- 
tinued his journey to Galilee, to exercise his ministry, and preach 
there the kingdom of God, telling his disciples, that the time was 
now accomplished which had been predetermined by Omnipotence 
for erecting the happy kingdom of the Prince of Peace, the Mosaic 
ceremonies being no longer obligatory. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



07 



Our Lord had performed several miracles at Jerusalem during the 
passover, at which the inhabitants of Galilee were present. His 
preaching was ; therefore, at first, attended with great success, for they 
listened attentively to his doctrine, and received it with great kind- 
ness and courtesy, especially the people of Cana, where he had turned 
the water into wine. 

During his residence in that city, a nobleman of Capernaum came 
to him, requesting, with great humility and reverence, that he would 
come down and heal his son, who was at the point of death. Our 
blessed Saviour readily complied with the latter part of this request; 
but to remove a prejudice they had conceived, that it was necessaiy 
to be personally present in order to restore the sick person to health, 
refused to go down to Capernaum,* dismissing the father with this 
assurance that his son was restored to health, "Go thy way, thy son 
liveth." John iv. 50. The nobleman obeyed the word of Jesus, 
and immediately departed for his own house; but before his arrival 
he was met by his servants with the joyful news that his son was re- 
covered. On this the father inquired at what time they perceived an 
alteration for the better; and from their answer was satisfied that im- 
mediately after the words were spoken by the blessed Jesus the fever 
left him, and he was recovered in a miraculous manner. This amaz- 
ing instance of his power and goodness abundantly convinced the 
nobleman and his family that Jesus was the true Messiah, the great 
Prophet so long promised to the world. 

After some stay in the city and neighborhood of Cana, Jesus went 
to Xazareth where he had spent the greatest part of his youth, and, 
as his constant custom was, went to the synagogue on the Sabbath- 

* Galilee, in which about one half of our Lord's ministry was performed, em- 
braced all that country lying between Syro Phoenicia on the north, Sainaria on 
the south, the Jordan river on the east, and the Mediterranean on the west. It 
was one of tha most beautiful and fertile portions of Palestine, and contained the 
.towns of Xazareth, in which the early years of the Saviour were spent, Cana, in 
which His first miracle was performed, and Capernaum, a delightfully situated 
town at the head of the Sea of Galilee in which our Lord spent the greater part of 
His private life, and performed many miracles. It was divided into Upper and 
Lower Galilee, and during our Lord's ministry was under the rule of Herod 
Antipas. The Apostles were all either Galileans by birth or residence, 

Capernaum was the chosen residence of the Lord, and was peculiarly His " own 
city." It was a place of considerable importance, and was one of the most 
delightful cities of the Holy Land. The doom which Christ pronounced against 
it, has been strikingly fulfilled, and to-day it is impossible to locate even its site 
with any degree of certainty. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST, 



69 



day, and read that celebrated prediction of the Messiah by the 
prophet Isaiah : " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he 
hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor ; he hath sent me to 
heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and re- 
covering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those that are bound, 
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." Luke iv. 18 19. 

It should be remembered that our blessed Saviour read this passage 
in the original Hebrew, which was then a dead language ; and as he 
had never been taught by letters, could do it only by inspiration 
from above. But he did more ; he explained the passage with such 
strength of reason and beauty of expression, that the inhabitants of 
Nazareth, who well knew he had never been initiated into the rudi- 
ments of learning, heard him with astonishment. But as he had 
performed no miracle in their city, they were offended at him. Per- 
haps they thought the place of his residence should have been his 
peculiar care ; and as he could with a single word heal the sick at a 
distance, not a single person in Nazareth should have been afflicted 
with any kind of disease. 

That they really entertained sentiments of this kind, seems plain 
from our Saviour's own words : " Ye will surely say to me, Physician, 
heal thyself : whatever ye have done in Capernaum, do also here in 
thy own country evidently alluding to the great and benevolent 
miracle he had wrought on the nobleman's son. 

But the holy Jesus, by enumerating the miracles Elijah had done 
in behalf of the widow of Sarepta, who was a heathen, and the in- 
habitant of an idolatrous city, in the time of famine, when many 
widows in Israel perished with hunger ; and of Naaman the Syrian, 
who was cured of his leprosy by the prophet Elisha, when numbers 
of Jews, afflicted with the same loathsome disease, were suffered to 
continue in their uncleanness, sufficiently proved that the prophets 
had on some extraordinary occasions wrought miracles in favor of 
those whom the Israelites judged unworthy of such marks of peculiar 
favor. The council was so incensed at this reply, that forgetting the 
sanctity of the sabbath, they hurried him through the streets " to the 
brow of the hill whereon the city was built," intending to cast him 
headlong down the precipice ; but the Son of God defeated their cruel 
intentions, by miraculously rendering himself invisible, and thus 
withdrawing from the fury of these wretched people. 



70 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER VI. 

OUR LORD PROCEEDS TO CAPERNAUM — ADDS TO THE NUMBER OF HIS FOLLOW- 
ERS — PROCLAIMS THE GOSPEL IN GALILEE — PREACHES TO A NUMEROUS AUDI- 
ENCE HIS WELL-KNOWN AND EXCELLENT DISCOURSE UPON THE MOUNT. 

The Holy Jesus, aggrieved by the cruel Nazarenes, departed from 
them, and visited in Capernaum, the capital of Galilee, which, from 
being built on the borders of the lake of Genesareth, was a place 
highly convenient for his designs ; for besides the numerous inhabi- 
tants of that city, the trading towns on the lake were crowded with, 
strangers, who after hearing the doctrine of the gospel preached by 
the great Redeemer of mankind, would not fail to spread, in their 
respective countries, the happy tidings of salvation. 

While Jesus tarried at Capernaum, he usually taught in the syna- 
gogues on the Sabbath-day, preaching with such, energy of power as, 
greatly astonished the whole congregation. 

He did not, however, constantly confine himself to that city, the 
adjacent country was often blessed with his presence, and cheered 
with the heavenly words of his mouth. 

In one of the neighboring villages he called Simon and Andrew, 
who were following their occupation of fishing on the lake, to accom- 
pany him. These disciples, who had before been acquainted with 
him, readily obeyed the heavenly mandate, and followed the Saviour 
of the world. Soon after, he saw James and John, who were also 
fishing on the lake, and called them also. Nor did they hesitate to 
follow the great Redeemer of mankind ; and from their ready com- 
pliance there is reason to believe that they, as well as Simon and 
Andrew, were acquainted with Jesus at Jordan ; unless we suppose, 
which is far from being improbable, that their readiness, proceeded 
from the secret energy of his power upon their minds. But however 
this may be, the four disciples accompanied our blessed Saviour at 
Capernaum, and soon after to different parts of Galilee. How long 
our Lord was on this journey cannot be determined. All the evan- 
gelists have mentioned is, that he wrought a great number of mira- 
cles on deceased persons ; and that the fame of these wonderful 



n 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 




. MOUNT ZION ; WITH THE MOSQUE OF DAVID, AND PART OF THE SOUTH 

WALL OF JERUSALEM. 

works drew people from Galilee, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond Jor- 
dan. Nor was the knowledge of these miracles concealed from 
the heathen, particularly the inhabitants of Syria; for they also 
brought their sick to Galilee to be healed by him. Consequently the 
time our blessed Saviour spent in these tours must have been con- 
siderable, though the evangelists have said very little concern- 
ing it. 

But whatever time was spent in these benevolent actions, the vast 
multitudes which nocked to him from every quarter, moved his com- 
passion towards those who were bewildered in the darkness of 
ignorance, and determined him to preach to them " the words of 
eternal life." 

For this blessed purpose he ascended a mountain in the neighborhood, 
and placing himself on an eminence, from whence he could be heard by 
the throngs of people attending him, he inculcated in an amazingly 
pathetic manner, the most important points of religion. But, alas ! they 
were coldly received, because many of them were directly opposite to 
the standing precepts delivered by the Scribes and Pharisees. Surely 
these people, who had seen the blessed Jesus perform so many benevo- 
lent actions to the poor, the diseased, and the maimed, might have 
entertained a more favorable opinion of his doctrine, and known that 
so compassionate and powerful a person must have been actuated by 
the Spirit of God ; and, consequently, that the doctrine he taught was 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



really divine. He opened his excellent sermon with the doctrine of 
happiness : a subject which the teachers of wisdom have always con- 
sidered as the principal object in morals, and employed their utmost 
abilities to convey a clear idea of it to their disciples, but differed very 
remarkably with regard to the particulars in which it consisted. 
The Jews were, in general, persuaded that the enjoyments of sense 
were the sovereign good. Riches, conquest, liberty, mirth, fame, re- 
venge, and other things of the same kind, afforded them such pleas- 
ures, that they wished for no better in the Messiah's kingdom, which 
they all considered as a secular one; and that a golden, instead of a 
sceptre of righteousness, would have been the sceptre of his kingdom. 
Nay, some of the disciples themselves retained, for a time, this notion, 
till they were convinced of their mistake, by the spirit, word, and 
conduct of their Divine Saviour. 

Our Lord and Master, therefore, to show his hearers in general, 
and his disciples in particular, the grossness of their error, declared 
that the highest happiness of men consisted in the favor and image 
of God; these will make man unspeakably happy, even in tribulation. 
Possessing these, the soul has peace and joy, and a lively hope of 
eternal rest; without these, no situation, however pleasant, no wealth, 
however abundant, no station, however exalted, can afford solid or 
permanent satisfaction of mind. 

You congratulate the rich and the great, said the Redeemer, but 
" Blessed are the poor in spirit," those humble souls, that, deeply con- 
scious of their ignorance and guilt, can quietly yield to Divine teach- 
ings, and Divine disposals; for however they may be despised, 
" theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." You admire the gay and jovial 
part of mankind, and please yourselves with the hopes of joy and 
festivity; but I say unto you, " Blessed are they that mourn, for they 
shall be comforted." 

The truth of this heavenly aphorism is very evident; for what has 
so great a power to turn the feet of the sons of men into the path of 
virtue as affliction? Has it not a natural tendency to give mankind 
a distaste to the pleasures of the world, and convince them they are 
nothing more than vanity and vexation of spirit; and consequently 
to demonstrate that they must seek for happiness in things more 
solid and permanent than any in this vale of tears? The Holy Spirit 
then awakens the most serious thoughts in the mind; composes it into 
a grave and settled frame, very different from the levity inspired by 
prosperity; gives it a fellow-feeling for the sorrows of others; and 



n 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



makes it thoroughly sensible of the danger of departing from God, 
the source and centre of all its joys. 

Nor are the passionate happy; but, on the contrary, the meek: — - 
those who have subdued their tempers can patiently bear provocation, 
and are strangers to that destructive passion, envy. The meek shall 
inherit the choicest blessings of the present life; for, indeed, they prin- 
cipally flow from that benevolent and heavenly temper of. mind. 
Meekness consists in the moderation of our passions, which renders a 
person lovely and venerable in the eyes of his fellow-mortals; and 
thence he possesses their sincere esteem, while the passionate and en- 
vious man is considered as despicable, though adorned with the robe 
of honor, and dignified with the most ample possessions. "Blessed 
are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth/' 

Men, through vanity and blindness, consider as happy those who 
enjoy the pleasures of this life, by rioting in luxury and excess. But 
this is far from being the case; on the contrary, those are the truly 
happy who have the most vehement desire of treading the paths of 
virtue and religion, for they, by the assistance of the Holy Spirit, 
shall obtain every thing they desire; and shajl be happy here in the 
practice of righteousness; and after this transitory life is ended, be 
received into the blissful mansions of the heavenly Canaan. " Blessed 
are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be 
filled." 

Forgiveness, not resentment, for injuries done, is a real spring of 
happiness; and those being of a humane and beneficent disposition, 
rejoice when they can perform a benevolent action, especially to their 
fellow-mortals in distress. The merciful shall see themselves recom- 
pensed even in this life; for they shall find, after many days, the 
bread they have cast upon the waters of affliction, return tenfold into 
their bosom. And surely nothing can surpass the pleasure felt by a 
generous mind, at having relieved a brother, when pressed beneath a 
load of misfortunes; the pleasure is Godlike, it is divine! " Blessed 
are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." 

With what delight do we behold the glories of the sun, and con- 
template the beautiful scenes of nature that surround us ! But what 
proportion has this to the delight that must fill the minds of those 
who behold the great Creator himself, who called the whole universe 
from nothing, and still supports it with the word of his power ? But 
the ineffable pleasures of a pure mind cannot be enjoyed by those 
who seek it in the goods of this world : it is the lot of those only 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



IS- 



who have mortified their carnal appetites, to enjoy an inward purity 
of mind. " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." 

The tyrants and conquerors of the earth, who disturb the peace of 
mankind, are far from happy. It falls to the share of those who 
love their fellow-creatures, and do all in their power to promote 
peace and harmony among the children of men : for they imitate the 
perfections of their Maker, and therefore will be acknowledged by 
him for his children, and participate of his happiness. " Blessed are 
the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." 

Nor does happiness consist in liberty and ease, if those privileges 
are purchased at the expense of truth and righteousness ; for those* 
who have suffered the severest trial that human nature is capable of 
sustaining, from purity of heart and conscience' sake, shall be honored 
with the highest reward in the blissful mansions of eternity. " Blessed 
are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the 
kingdom of heaven." 

Contentment is not to be expected from the applause of the world, 
but will be the portion of those who are falsely reviled for righteous- 
ness' sake, and share in the affronts offered to God himself ; for by 
these persecutions the prophets of all ages have been distinguished. 
" Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and 
shall say all manner of evil against you, falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, 
and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven ; for so 
persecuted they the prophets which were before you." Matt.. 
v. 11, 12. 

These are the declarations, with regard to happiness, made by the 
Son of God ; and surely we may believe the words of him who came 
down from heaven ; who, in compassion to our infirmities, took upon 
himself our nature ; and to redeem us from the power of sin and 
death, offered himself a sacrifice upon the cross, and thereby opened 
to us the gates of eternal life. 

Having shown in what true happiness consisted, our Saviour 
addressed himself to his disciples, and explained their duty as the 
teachers appointed to guide others in the paths that lead to eternal 
felicity ; exciting them to diligence in dispensing the salutary in- 
fluences of their doctrine and example, that their hearers might honor 
and praise the great Creator of heaven and earth, who had been so 
kind to the children of men. 

As his definition of happiness was very different from what the ' 
Jews were accustomed to hear from the Scribes and Pharisees, he 



TG THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 

thought proper to declare, that he was not come to destroy the moral 
precepts contained in the law or the prophets, but to fulfil or confirm 
them. 

Nothing is so steadfast as the eternal truths of morality ; the 
heavens may pass away, and the whole frame of nature be dissolved, 
but the rule of righteousness shall remain immutable and immortal. 
And therefore he ordered his disciples, on the severest penalties, to 
enforce, both by preaching and example, the strict observation of all 
the moral precepts contained in the sacred writings • and that in a 
much greater latitude than they were taken by the teachers of Israel. 
-And, in consideration of the frailties of human nature, taught them 
that excellent form of prayer, which has been used by Christians 
of all denominations to this very day. 

Our Father, etc. 

If earthly parents are called fathers, the Almighty has the best 
title from every creature, and particularly from men, being the 
Father of their spirits, the maker of their bodies, and the continual 
preserver of both. Nor is this all : — he is our Father in a still 
higher sense, as he regenerates us, and stamps his image upon our 
minds; so that, partaking of his nature, we become his children, and 
can, therefore, with holy boldness, call him by the title of that re- 
lation. In the former sense, God is the father of all his creatures, 
whether good or bad ; but in the latter he is the father only of the 
righteous. Father is the most magnificent title invented by philoso- 
phers or poets, in honor of their God ; it conveys the most lovely 
idea possible to be conceived by the human breast. As it is used by 
mankind in general, it marks the essential character of the true God, 
namely, that he is the first cause of all things, or the author of their 
being : and, at the same time, conveys a stronger idea of the tender 
love he bears to his creatures, whom he nourishes with a watchfulness 
infinitely superior to that of an earthly parent. The name of Father 
also teaches us, that we owe our being to God, points out his good- 
ness and mercy in upholding us, and expresses his power in giving 
us the things we ask. 

We are likewise taught to give our Maker the title of Father, that 
our sense of the tender relation in which he stands to us may be con- 
firmed, our faith in his power and goodness strengthened, our hopes 
of obtaining what we ask in prayer cherished, and our desire of obey- 
ing and imitating him quickened ; for reason, aided by grace, teaches 
that it is disgraceful in children to degenerate from their parents, and 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



that they cannot commit a greater crime than to disobey the com- 
mands of an indulgent father. 

Lastly, We are commanded to call him Father in the plural num- 
ber, and that even in our secret addresses to the throne of grace, to 
put us in mind that we are all brethren, the children of one common 
parent; and that we ought to love one another with sincerity, as we 
pray not for ourselves only, but for all the human race. 

Which art in Heaven. These words do not suppose the presence of 
God confined ; he is present everywhere ; is about our paths, and about 
our bed, and narrowly inspecteth every action of the sons of men; 
but they express his majesty and power, and distinguish him from 
those we call fathers upon earth, and from false gods, which are not 
in heaven, and happy mansions of bliss and felicity, where the Al- 
mighty, who is essentially present in every part of the universe, gives 
more especial manifestation of his presence to such of his creatures as 
he hath exalted to share with him in the eternal felicities of the 
heavenly Jerusalem. 

Hallowed be thy name. By the name of God, the Hebrews under- 
stood God himself, his attributes, and his works; and, therefore, the 
meaning of the petition is, May thy existence be universally believed, 
thy presence loved and imitated, thy works admired, thy supremacy 
over all things acknowledged, thy providence reverenced and confided 
in! May all the sons of men think so highly of his Divine Majesty, 
of the attributes, of his works ! and may we so express our veneration 
of God, that his glory may be manifested in every corner of the 
world ! 

Thy kingdom com<>. Let the kingdom of the Messiah be extended 
to the utmost parts of the earth, that all the children of men " may 
know his salvation, and become one fold under one shepherd, Jesus 
Christ the righteous." 

Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. May thy will, O thou 
great Father of the universe, be done upon us, that by the light of 
thy glorious gospel we may be enabled to imitate the angels of light, 
by giving as sincere, universal, and constant obedience to thy Divine 
commands, as blessed beings do in glory. 

Give us this day our daily bread. Give us from time to time 
wholesome and proper food, that we may be enabled to worship thee 
with cheerfulness and vigor. 

And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. The great God, 
as supreme governor of the universe, has a right to support his gov- 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



•eminent, by punishing those who transgress his laws. The suffering 
of punishment, therefore, is a debt which sinners owe to the Divine 
justice: so that when we ask God in prayer to forgive our debts, we 
beg that he would be mercifully pleased to remit the punishment of 
all our sins, particularly the pains of hell ; and that, laying aside his 
displeasure, he would graciously receive us into favor, and bless us 
with life eternal. 

In this petition, therefore, we confess our sins, and express the 
sense we have of their guilt ; namely, that they deserve death ; and 
surely nothing can be more proper than such a confession in our ad- 
dresses to God; because humility and a sense of our own unworthi- 
ness, when we ask favors of the Almighty, whether spiritual or 
temporal, have a tendency to give us a proper sense of the goodness 
of God in bestowing them upon us. 

The terms of this petition are worthy our notice: Forgive us only 
as we forgive. We must forgive others, if we hope ourselves to be 
forgiven; and are permitted to crave from God such forgiveness only 
as we grant to others: so that if we do not forgive our enemies, we 
seriously and solemnly implore the Almighty to condemn us to the 
punishment of eternal death! How exceedingly careful, therefore, 
should men be to purge their hearts from all rancor and malice be- 
fore they venture into the temple of the Almighty, to offer up their 
prayers to the throne of grace ! 

And lead us not into temptation, bid deliver us from evil. O thou 
that helpest our infirmities, suffer us not to enter into temptation, to 
be overcome, or suffer loss thereby, but make a way for us to escape, 
and deliver us by some means from the evil; either by removing the 
temptation, or increasing our power to resist it. This petition teaches 
us to preserve a sense of our own inability to repel and overcome the 
solicitations of the world, and of the necessity there is of our receiving 
assistance from above, both to regulate our passions, and enable us to 
prosecute a religious life. 

For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. 
Because the government of the universe is thine for ever, and thou 
alone possessest the power of creating and upholding all things ; and 
because the glory of thine infinite perfections remains eternally with 
thee, therefore all men ought to hallow thy name, submit themselves' 
to thy government, and perform thy will. And in an humble sense 
of their dependence, seek from thee the supply of their wants, the 
pardon of their sins, and the kind protection of thy providence. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



79 



This is emphatically called the Lord's Prayer, because delivered by 
the Son of God himself ; and therefore we should do well to under- 
stand it thoroughly, that when we enter the temple of the Lord, and 
address him in solemn prayer, we may have hopes that he will grant 
our petitions. 

The Divine Preacher proceeded to consider the great duty of fast- 
ing, in which he directed them not to follow the hypocrites in disfig- 
uring their faces, and in clothing themselves in the melancholy weeds of 
sorrow, but to be chiefly solicitous to appear before God as one that truly 
fasteth. Then will the Almighty, who constantly surrounds us, and 
is acquainted even with the most secret thoughts of our hearts, openly 
bestow upon us the blessing he hath promised a true penitent, whose 
mortification, contrition, and humility he can discern without the ex- 
ternal appearances of sorrow and repentance. It must, however, be 
remembered, that our blessed Saviour is here speaking of private 
fasting, and to this alone his directions are to be applied ; for when 
we are called upon to mourn over public sins and calamities, it ought 
to be performed in the most public manner. 

Heavenly-mindecmess was the next inculcated by the blessed Jesus ; 
and this he recommended with a peculiar earnestness, because the 
Jewish doctors were in general strangers to this virtue, in which he 
was desirous his followers should be clothed, as being the most excel- 
lent ornament for a teacher of righteousness. This is strenuously 
recommended by our blessed Saviour, by showing the deformity of 
its opposite — covetousness, which has only perishable things for its 
object: — "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where 
moth and rust doth corrupt, and where , thieves break through and 
steal : but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither 
moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through 
nor steal : for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." 
Matt. vi. 19, 20, 21. 

More solid happiness will accrue from depositing your treasures in 
heaven, than in laying them up in earth, where they are subject to a 
thousand disasters, and even at best, can remain only for a short series 
of years : whereas those that are laid up in the heavenly Jerusalem 
are permanent, subject to no accident, and will lead to "a crown of 
glory that fadeth not away, eternal in the heavens." Nor let any 
man be so foolish as to think he can place his heart on the happiness 
of a future life, when his treasures are deposited in this vale of mis- 
ery ; for wherever are laid up the goods which his soul desireth, there 



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bis heart and affections will also remain. If, therefore, you are desir- 
ous of sharing in the joys of eternity, you must lay up your treasures 
in the '''mansions of my Father's kingdom/' 

Lest they should imagine it was possible to be both heavenly- 
minded and covetous at the same time, he assured them that this 
was full as absurd as to imagine a person could, at the same time, 
serve two masters of opposite characters. " No man can serve two 
masters : for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he 
will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God 
and Mammon." Matt. vi. 24. 

To strengthen this doctrine he added a few plain and evident in- 
stances of the power, perfection and extent of God's providence, in 
which his tender care for the least and weakest of his creatures shines 
with remarkable lustre, demonstrating the wise and paternal attention 
of the Deity to all the works of his hand. " Take no thought for 
your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink ; nor yet for your 
body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the 
body more than raiment?" Matt. vi. 25. . 

He desired them to observe the birds of the air, the lilies, and even 
the grass of the field ; leading his»most illiterate hearers to form a 
more elevated and extensive idea of the divine government than the 
philosophers had attained, who, though they allowed, in general, that 
the world was governed by God, had very confused notions of his 
providence with regard to every individual creature and action. He 
taught them that the Almighty Father of the whole is the guardian 
and protector of every being in the universe ; that every action is 
subject to his will, and nothing left to the blind determination of 
chance. And if our lives be according to the Divine will, we have 
surely no reason to be anxious about the necessaries of life. "Behold 
(says the blessed Jesus) the fowls of the air ; for they sow not, neither 
do they reap, nor gather into barns : yet your heavenly Father feed- 
eth them. Are ye not much better than they?" Matt. vi. 26. Are 
not the fowls of the air, who have no concern for future wants, fed 
and nourished by the beneficent hand of your heavenly Father? and 
can ye doubt that man, whom he hath made the lord of the earth, 
shall be destitute of his tender care ? "And why take ye thought for 
raiment ? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow ; they toil 
not, neither do they spin : and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, 
in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these." Matt. vi. 28, 29. 

Our Lord then prohibited all rash and uncharitable censure, either 



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with regard to the characters of others in general, or their actions in 
particular; lest, in so doing, both God and man resent the injury. 
If you judge charitably, says the benevolent Redeemer of the human 
race, making allowances for the frailties of human nature, and are 
ready to pity and pardon their faults, both your heavenly Father 
and man will deal with you after the same manner. But if you al- 
ways put the harshest construction upon every action, and are not 
touched with a feeling of your brother's infirmities, nor show any 
mercy in the opinions you form of his character and actions, no 
mercy will be shown you either from Omnipotence or the sons of 
men. God will inflict on you the punishments you deserve, and the 
world will be sure to retaliate the injury. " Judge not, that ye be 
not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged, 
and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." 
Matt. vii. 1, 2. 

The blessed Jesus, in this pious discourse, charged them to cultivate 
an entire reformation in themselves; a particular absolutely necessary 
in those whose office it is to reprove and reform their brethren. And 
surely nothing can be more preposterous than to condemn in others 
what we practice ourselves; or to set up for reformers of the world, 
when we ourselves are contaminated with the most enormous vices. 
With what countenance can we undertake to rebuke others, when we 
ourselves are plunged in the most detestable pollutions ? Well might 
the Redeemer of the world say, "Thou hypocrite, first cast out the 
beam out of thine own eye ; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast 
out the mote out of thy brother's eye." Matt. vii. 5. 

Lest the disciples should think that these precepts were not to be 
attained by human nature, he directed them to apply to God for the 
assistance of his Spirit, together with all the other blessings necessary 
to their salvation ; assuring them, that if they asked with earnestness 
and perseverance, the Father of mercies would not fail to answer 
their requests. Adding the noblest precepts of morality ever de- 
livered by any teacher: "All things whatsoever ye would that men 
should do to you, do ye even so to them : for this is the law and the 
prophets." Matt. vii. 12. How clear a rule of duty is this! how 
easy and applicable to practice ! 

Having enforced these heavenly precepts, he exhorted them to 
place an humble dependence on the assistance of the Holy Spirit, to 
strive to practice the precepts of religion, however difficult the task 
may appear. " Enter ye in at the strait gate : for wide is the gate, 
6 



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and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be 
which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the 
way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matt. 
13, 14. Strait indeed is the gate, and narrow is the way, that lead- 
eth to life ! In the way nothing is to be found that suits the flesh, 
but many things that have a tendency to mortify it; poverty, fasting, 
watching, injuries, chastity, sobriety. It receives none that are 
puffed up with the glory of this life ; none that are elated and blown 
up with pride ; none that are indulging in luxury. It does not ad- 
mit those that love riches, or are encumbered with the goods of this 
world. None can pass through it but those who renounce all worldly 
lusts, and are resolved to forsake all sin. There is, however, no 
reason for us to despair of entering through this heavenly portal ; if 
we sincerely endeavor, the assistance of the Holy Spirit will be freely 
given us ; and we shall pass through the strait gate, and pursue our 
journey along the narrow path, till we arrive at the blissful man- 
sions of the heavenly Canaan. But, lest evil-minded men, under the 
mask of piety and religion, should endeavor to draw them from the 
paths of righteousness, our blessed Saviour cautioned his disciples to 
beware of such persons, and carefully make the strictest scrutiny into 
their lives and doctrines. 

Our Lord closed his sermon with the parable of the house built 
on different foundations ; intimating that the bare knowledge, or the 
simple hearing of the divinest lessons of the truth ever delivered, 
nay, even the belief of these instructions, without the practice of 
them, is of no manner of importance. The way of life which our 
blessed Redeemer has marked out for us, in such precepts as the 
above, may indeed, to corrupt nature, appear rugged and narrow, and 
the gate strait, through which we are to pass ; but let us encourage 
ourselves against all the difficulties, by considering that immortal life 
and glory to which they infallibly lead. Then shall we, doubtless, 
prefer the most painful way of piety and virtue, though with yet 
fewer companions, than we might reasonably expect, to all those 
flowery and frequented paths of vice, which lead to the chambers of 
death. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER VII. 

OUR BLESSED LOUD CURES THE LEPROSY AND PALSY — CASTS OUT A DEVIL — 
SUCCORS THE MOTHER-IN-LAW OF PETER; AND AFTERWARDS PURSUES HIS 
JOURNEY THROUGH THE COUNTRY OF GALILEE. 

The great preacher of Israel having finished his excellent dis- 
course, came down from the mountain, surrounded by a multitude of 
people, who had listened with astonishment to the doctrines he de- 
livered, which were soon confirmed by divers miracles. A leper met 
him in his way to Capernaum, and being doubtless acquainted with 
the wondrous works he had already performed, threw himself with 
great humility before the Son of God, using this remarkable expres- 
sion, " Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." The species 
of leprosy, common among the Jews and other eastern nations, was 
equally nauseous and infectious ; but this was so far from preventing 
the blessed Jesus from approaching so loathsome an object, that it, 
increased his pity : he even touched him ; but instead of being pol- 
luted himself, the leper was instantly cleansed, and he departed, 
glorifying God. 

The evangelist adds, that Jesus forbade him to tell any person 
what had been done, but repair immediately to the priest, and offer 
the gift commanded by Moses. 

Having performed the cure on the leper, our blessed Jesus pro- 
ceeded to Capernaum ; but _ as he entered the city, he was met by a 
Roman centurion, who represented to him, in the most pathetic man- 
ner, the deplorable condition of his servant, who was grievously 
-afflicted with a palsy. The compassionate Redeemer of the world 
listened attentively to his complaint, and immediately told him he 
would come and heal him. The centurion thought this too great a 
condescension to one who was not of the seed of Jacob, and therefore 
told him that he did not mean that he should give himself the 
trouble of going to his house, which was an honor he had not the 
least reason to expect, being confident that his word alone would be 
sufficient ; disease and devils being as much subject to his commands 
as his soldiers were to him. 

Our Lord was not ignorant of the centurion's faith, or the basis on 



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which it was built ; he well knew the thoughts of his heart long be- 
fore he uttered his request; and to make this faith the more conspicu- 
ous, he gave it the praise it so justly deserved : " Verily I say unto 
you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." Matt. viii. 10. 
This centurion doubtless relied upon the miracle Jesus had before 
wrought upon the nobleman's son ; but the excellency and peculiarity 
of it consisted in applying the most grand ideas of the Divine power 
to Jesus, who, according to outward appearance, was only one of the 
sons of men. This exalted faith induced the blessed Jesus to declare 
the gracious intentions of his Almighty Father, with regard to the 
Gentiles, namely, that he would as readily accept their faith as that 
of the Jews, and place them with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the 
kingdom of heaven ; while those who boasted of being the offspring 
of these great patriarchs, but fell far short of the heathen in faith, 
should be excluded from the blissful seats of paradise. " And I say 
unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit 
down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of 
heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into 
outer darkness : there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 1 * 
.Matt. viii. 11, 12. 

Having thus addressed the multitude, the blessed Jesus turned 
himself to the centurion, and said, " Go thy way, and as thou hast 
believed, so be it done unto thee." And the evangelist adds, " his 
servant was healed in the selfsame hour." Matt, vii.i 13. 

On the succeeding Sabbath our Saviour went into the Jewish 
synagogue at Capernaum, and taught the people, delivering hi& 
instructions in so graceful and elegant a manner that they were all 
astonished ; and, to increase their admiration, one of the congregation, 
possessed with an unclean spirit, cried out in a terrible manner, 
" Let us alone, what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of ^Nazareth? 
art thou come to destroy us ? I know thee who thou art, the Holy 
One of God." Mark i. 24. 

But the blessed Jesus, who wanted the testimony of no such con- 
fessors, commanded him to keep silence, and immediately to come 
out of the man ; which command the evil spirit instantly obeyed, to 
the great surprise and astonishment of the spectators. 

The enemies of the gospel have always endeavored to depreciate 
our Saviour's miracles, pretending that no more is meant by a person 
possessed of the devil than that he was afflicted with some loathsome 
disease ; and that because sepulchres were considered as polluted 



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places, therefore, whenever any melancholy person frequented them, 
they were said to be possessed of unclean spirits. They add, that it 
will be difficult to assign a reason why demons were, at this time, 
more numerous in Judea than in any other country. 

To the first of these objections, namely, that these demoniacs were 
in reality nothing more than persons afflicted with some loathsome 
disease, we reply, it is evidently false ; the evangelists having taken 
care to be very particular on this head. "They brought unto him all 
sick people that were taken with divers diseases, and those which 
were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those 
that had the palsy ; and he healed them." Matt iv. 24 " He gave 
to the Apostles power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and 
to heal all manner of sickness, and all manner of diseases." Matt. x. 1. 
"He healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out 
many devils." Mark i. 34. It is therefore evident that those said 
to be possessed with unclean spirits were different from those that 
had diseases. Let us therefore pass to the second objection, and see 
whether we cannot give a satisfactory reason why demons were, at 
this time, more numerous in Judea that in any other country. 

That there were evil spirits of this kind is abundantly evident 
from the Holy Scriptures,' the sacred penmen having taken care to 
acquaint us with their origin and fall, their names and numbers, their 
government and orders, their malicious designs and employments, 
with several other particulars. So that no one can doubt of the 
existence of demons, who believes these holy oracles to be the word 
of God. And it is equally evident, both from sacred and profane 
history, that before our Saviour's advent great numbers of men were 
possessed of those evil spirits. The truth is, these angels of darkness 
had, at this time, taken possession of a large share of the world; and, 
therefore, one end of the incarnation of the Son of God was, that he 
might " destroy the works of the devil." And hence we may easily 
see the reason why Omnipotence suffered these apostate spirits to 
appear so frequently in Judea at the time of our Saviour's ministry, 
namely, that the Son of God might, in a more signal manner, triumph 
over all the powers of darkness, and convince mankind that he was 
truly the Saviour of the world. 

He had before healed the sick, and done many other wonderful 
things: but to command with authority the unclean spirits to quit 
their residence, and to see these enemies to mankind readily obey 
his voice, filled them with astonishment. 




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87 



It has been asked, why the devil, who, it is plain from the text, 
knew our Saviour to be the Son of God, should put it into the heart 
of Judas to betray him, since this was the proper method of accom- 
plishing the redemption of mankind ? But the answer to this is obvious 
and easy. The devil, doubtless, knew Jesus to be the Messiah; but 
he was ignorant of the mystery of man's redemption, and, therefore, 
though he was not ignorant of his divinity, yet he might be so far 
infatuated, as to think, that by destroying his humanity, he should 
defeat the great design of Omnipotence. For however extensive we 
may suppose his intellectual faculties to be, yet the wonderful work 
of man's redemption, by the death of Christ, was a mystery that no 
finite understanding could comprehend, till God himself was pleased 
to reveal it. 

Having performed this astonishing miracle in the synagogue, our 
Lord retired to Peter's house, where he found his wife's mother sick 
of a fever ; but on his taking her by the hand, she was immediately 
restored to health, and arose from the bed, and " ministered unto 
him." 

The evangelist St. Luke, in his account of this miraculous cure, 
tells us, that "he rebuked the fever," Luke iv. 39, to intimate his 
authority over all diseases, being analogous to the figurative express- 
personal power of evil, lie uses an argument, as to the division of Satan against 
himself, -which, if possession he unreal, becomes inconclusive and almost 
insincere. Lastly, the single fact recorded of the entrance of the demons at 
Gadara (Mark v. 10-14) into the herd of swine, and the effect which that entrance 
caused, is sufficient to overthrow the notion that our Lord and the evangelists do 
not assert or imply any objective reality of possession. In the face of this mass 
of evidence it seems difficult to conceive how the theory can be reconciled with 
anything like truth of Scripture. III. "We are led, therefore, to the ordinary 
and literal interpretation of these passages, that there are evil spirits, subjects 
of the Evil One, who in the days of the Lord himself and his Apostles especially, 
were permitted by God to exercise a direct influence over the souls and bodies 
of certain men. This influence is clearly distinguished from the ordinary 
power of corruption and temptation wielded by Satan through the permission of 
God. The distinguishing feature of possession is the complete or incomplete 
loss of the sufferer's reason or power of will ; his actions, his words, and almost 
his thoughts, are mastered by the evil spirit (Mark L 24, v 7 ; Acts xix. 15), till 
his personality seems to be destroyed, or, if not destroyed, so overborne as to 
produce the consciousness of a twofold will within him, like that sometimes felt 
in a dream. In the ordinary temptations and assaults of Satan, the will itself 
yields consciously, and by yielding gradually assumes, without losing its 
apparent freedom of action, the characteristics of the Satanic nature. It is 
solicited, urged, and persuaded against the strivings of grace, but not over- 
borne. ' ' — Dr. Willia m 8m ith. 



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THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



ions in Scripture, which not only represent all inanimate creatures as 
servants to the Almighty, but diseases, famine, pestilence, and the 
like, as executioners, waiting on him to inflict punishment on rebel- 
lious sinners. " Before him went the pestilence, and burning diseases 
went forth at his feet." Heb. iii. 5. 

The fame of these miracles was soon spread through the city; and 
as soon as the Sabbath was over, which ended at the setting of the 
sun, the whole city was gathered together about Peter's house, and 
with them great numbers of sick persons, and those possessed with 
devils. The sight of so many human objects in distress excited the 
pity of this heavenly physician, so that he immediately healed them 
all. And thus was the prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled : " Himself took 
our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." 

But the vast concourse of people that now gathered round him in 
Capernaum began to be troublesome, and he retired into a desert, 
whither the multitude soon followed him, and intreated him never to 
depart from them. But as this request was enconsistent with the 
design of his mission, he for the first time refused their request, "and 
preached in the synagogues of Galilee." Luke iv. 44. 




SENDING FORTH THE TWELVE APOSTLES.. 



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89 



CHAPTER VIII. 

JESUS CONFIRMS HIS MISSION BY PRODUCING A MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT OF 
FISHES — CURING THE LEPROSY A SECOND TIME — APPEASING THE BOISTEROUS 
WAVES— CASTING DEYILS OUT OF DIVERS PERSONS GRIEVOUSLY POSSESSED. 

Our blessed Lord having spread his glorious doctrine throughout 
<ralilee, returned to Capernaum, followed by such numbers of people, 
that he found it necessary to step into Peter's ship; from whence he 
taught the multitude, who stood on the shore listening with great 
attention to his doctrine. 

Having concluded his discourse, he turned himself to Simon Peter, 
desiring him to launch out further from the shore,* and let down his 
met. On which the disciple told him of the unsuccessful pains they 
had taken during the whole night ; but added, that he would, in 
obedience to his command, make one trial more. Nor had he any 
cause to repent; for the net was no sooner in the lake than they 
found it so full of fishes, that it was in danger of breaking; the 
draught being so large, they were compelled to call " unto their 
partners in another ship that they should come and help them. And 
they came and filled both ships." 

This success, after such ill fortune, astonished Peter, who, falling 
-down at the feet of Jesus, cried out, " Depart from me, for I am a 
sinful man, O Lord." He was conscious of the many sins he had 



* The Sea of Galilee, or of Gennesaret, is called the Sea of Chiimereth, or 
Cinneroth, in the Old Testament. It is a beautiful lake, oval in shape, about 
thirteen or fourteen geographical miles long, and six wide. It is sometimes 
spoken of as the Sea of Tiberius, in the New Testament, that celebrated city 
having stood on its banks. It was situated in the most densely populated part 
of Palestine, having no less than nine cities on its shores. The River Jordan 
flows through it, entering it at its northern end, and flowing out at the south. 
It is seven hundred feet below the level of the ocean, and is surrounded by a 
rugged and unattractive country. "The great depression makes the shores 
almost tropical. This is very sensibly felt by the traveller in going down from 
the plains of Galilee. In summer the heat is intense, and even in early spring 
the air has something of an Egyptian balminess." T lie beach is covered with 
bright, sparkling pebbles, and adds much to the appearance of the lake. The 
water is clear, cool, and sweet, and abounds in fish. 



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91 



been guilty of ; and therefore afraid of being in the company of so 
divine a person, lest some offence might have exposed him to more 
than ordinary chastisement. 

But the benevolent Redeemer of mankind allayed his fears, by 
telling him, that from henceforth the employment of him and his 
companions should be far more noble; they should "catch men;" 
that is, they should turn them from the crooked paths of iniquity, to 
the strait road leading to the heavenly mansions. 

This miracle was considered by the disciples as a plainer manifes- 
tation of his being the Son of God, than those they had seen him 
perform on the sick in the city and neighborhood of Capernaum. 
It was a received opinion among the Jews, that all good men, by 
prayers and laying their hand on the sick, were able to cure certain 
diseases, and even to cast out devils, but that the creatures inhabiting 
the element of air or water, were subject only to the commands of 
Omnipotence himself ; consequently, the power shown by our blessed 
Saviour on this occasion undeniably proved him to be divine. And 
accordingly this demonstration of his power rendered these disciples, 
for the future, absolutely devoted to his will ; and in the greatness of 
their admiration they abandoned everything, and followed the Saviour 
of the world. 

The disciples being thus attached to their Divine Master, followed 
him through the cities of Galilee, where, according to his usual cus- 
tom, he preached the gospel of the kingdom of God, and confirmed 
the doctrine he delivered with astonishing miracles. 

In one of the cities through which he passed, he found " a man full 
of leprosy, who, seeing Jesus, fell on his face, and besought him, saying, 
Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." Luke v. 12. 

It was the custom in Judea, for the priests to banish from society 
those persons who were afflicted with contagious leprosy. The disease 
of this person, therefore, was of a less pestilential kind, as he was 
suffered to enjoy the conversation of men. flis case, however, excited 
the f>ity of the compassionate Jesus, who immediately cleansed him, 
and ordered him to repair to Jerusalem ; and, after showing himself 
to the priest, offer the gifts commanded by Moses ; giving him the 
same admonition he had done to others, namely, not to tell any man 
what had been done for him. But the blessing he had received was 
so great and unexpected, that instead of concealing, he published 
everywhere the great things Jesus had done for him ; which brought 
such crowds to the Son of God, that he was obliged to retire from. 



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Capernaum into the wilderness, to refresh his body with rest, and his 
spirit with prayer and meditation. 

The generality of commentators suppose that this leper, and the 
other mentioned in the foregoing chapter, are one and the same person ; 
but this is a mistake. The former was cured in the fields, the latter 
in the city. After cleansing the first, Jesus went to Capernaum, and 
healed the centurion's servant : but after curing the latter, he retired 
into the wilderness, to shun the prodigious crowds which soon gathered 
round him from the leper's publishing everywhere the miracle Jesus 
had wrought for him. 

If the curious should inquire why our blessed Saviour so often 
commanded the people to conceal his miracles ? we answer them : 
His modesty and humility would not suffer that his works should 
have the least appearance of ostentation ; nor the Jews to have the 
least pretence for accusing him of "seeking his own glory." Nor 
was it proper at this time to irritate too greatly the Scribes and Phari- 
sees. He well knew, that in a certain determinate space of time, they 
would bring about what had been determined by Providence concern- 
ing him. In the meantime, " he was to work the works of him that 
sent him while it was day," John ix. 4, and to propagate his gospel 
with the greater facility both among the Jews and Gentiles ; which 
could not have been so conveniently performed, if the greatness of his 
miracles had once provoked the malice and envy of his enemies to 
exert their utmost power against him. He likewise knew the mad, 
capricious humor of the multitude, and had reason to apprehend " that 
Ihey might come and take him away by force, and make him king," 
John vi. 15, if all his miracles had been blazed abroad before he had 
sufficiently instructed them in the spiritual nature of his kingdom, 
and that his throne was not to be established in the earthly, but in the 
heavenly Jerusalem. 

From these instances we see that the blessed Jesus did not, without 
sufficient reason, desire his miracles to be concealed. The fame of this 
single miracle, being spread through the neighboring countries, brought 
such multitudes of people to Capernaum, that, as we have already ob- 
served, he was obliged to retire into a solitary part of the neighboring 
wilderness. Nor could he long enjoy the repose and tranquillity he 
sought, even in this thirsty waste ; the people soon discovered the place' 
of his retreat, and flocked to him from every quarter. 

Our blessed Lord, finding all his endeavors to conceal himself in 
the desert would be in vain, ordered his disciples to accompany him 



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to the other side of the lake ; upon which a certain Scribe, who hap- 
pened to be present, declared he would follow him : but Jesus, who 
well knew that his desire was only to gain the profits and advantages 
of an earthly kingdom, which he supposed the Messiah would estab- 
lish, told him, that if he intended nothing more by following him, 
than to improve his worldly wealth, he would find himself wretchedly 
mistaken. "The foxes have holes," said the blessed Jesus to this 
teacher of Israel, " and the birds of the air have nests ; but the Son 
of man hath not where to lay his head." Matt. viii. 20. 

The title, Son of man, is a name by which the Messiah is called in 
the prophecy concerning him recorded by the prophet Daniel, (vii. 
13,) where his universal dominion is described; and, therefore, when 
applied to our great Redeemer, denotes his human nature, and, at 
the same time, conveys an idea of that glorious kingdom, over which 
he was in his human nature to preside ; but as it was also the name 
by which the old prophets were called, from the contempt in which 
they were held by their countrymen, it is used on several occasions to 
express the deep humiliation of the Son of God. 

The disciples having prepared the ship, took on board their Master, 
and departed for the other side of the lake, attended by many boats 
full of people, who were desirous of hearing his heavenly discourses, 
and of being spectators of his astonishing works. But Jesus being 
fatigued with the labors of the day, sat himself down at the stern of 
the ship, and fell asleep. 

The weather, which had till now been calm and serene, suddenly 
changed. A terrible storm came on, and the rising waves dashed 
impetuously against the ship, threatening every moment to bury them 
all in the bowels of the deep. The darkness of the night increased 
the horrors of the tempest. Now they were carried on the top of the 
mountainous waves, and seemed to touch the skies : then plunged to 
the bottom of the deep, while the foaming billows roared horribly 
above them. In vain the disciples exerted their utmost strength r - 
the storm continued to increase, and baffled all the efforts of human 
strength. The waves broke over the ship, the waters rushed in, and 
she began to sink. All hopes of escaping were vanished ; despair 
seized every individual, and they were on the brink of perishing, 
when they ran to Jesus, crying out, " Master, Master, we perish ! " 
Their vehement cries roused him from his sleep. He raised his hand, 
so often employed in acts of mercy and benevolence; and, with a 
stern and awful voice, rebuked the boisterous element. The raging. 



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95 



:sea instantly obeyed his command. The aerial torrent stopped short 
in its impetuous course, and became silent as the grave, while the 
mountainous waves sunk at once into their beds, and the surface of 
the deep became as smooth as polished marble. 

The disciples had before seen their great Master perform many 
miracles ; and therefore had abundant reason to rely wholly on his 
power and goodness. They should have considered that he who 
could by his word restore the sick, and bring the inhabitants of the 
sea to their nets, could with the same ease have supported them on 
the surface of the deep, had the ship sunk beneath them, and carried 
them safe to the place whither they were going. But they seemed to 
have forgotten the power of their Master ; and, when human assist- 
ance failed, to have abandoned all hopes of life. The blessed Jesus, 
therefore, very justly rebuked them, "Why are ye fearful, O ye of 
little faith ? " Why should ye doubt of my power to protect you ? 
The voyage was undertaken at my command: and therefore you 
should have been confident that I would not suffer you to perish 
in it. 

It is indeed strange that the disciples should have been so remark- 
ably terrified during the storm, and after it to make this reflection, 
" What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey 
him?" Matt. viii. 27. 

But it should be remembered that the terror of the storm had de- 
prived them of all presence of mind, so that they did not recollect 
the divine power of their Master during the fury of the tempest: and 
the transition from a terrible storm to the most perfect calm was so 
quick and astonishing, that they probably uttered this reflection before 
the confusion in their minds was over. 

Soon after the storm was allayed, they arrived in the country of 
Gadara ; and on their landing, two men possessed with devils came 
from the tombs to meet Jesus. One of them, who was more furious 
than the other, had been often bound with chains and fetters, but to 
no purpose, being always broken with great fury; so that no man 
attempted further to restrain him. Being therefore at liberty, he 
shunned the society of men, wandered day and night in desert places, 
among the sepulchres or caverns where the dead were deposited, cry- 
ing and making the most dismal complaints, and cutting himself 
with stones. 

The disciples were terrified at the approach of these furious mor- 
tals ; but Jesus soon dissipated their fears, commanding, while the 



96 



THE LIFE OP CHRIST. 



men were at a distance, the devils to come out of them. The hea>v 
enly mandate was no sooner given than they fell on their faces,, 
crying out, " What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the 
Most High God?" Mark v. 7. "Art thou come hither to torment 
us before the time?" Matt. viii. 29. "I adjure thee by God, that 
thou torment me not." Mark v. 7. The apostate spirits well knew 
the power of the Son of God, and trembled lest he should immedi- 
ately cast them into the torments prepared for them, and not suffer 
them to continue moving through the earth till the day of judgment, 
when they should be condemned to eternal punishment in the sight 
of the whole creation. 

Jesus being willing that the torment suffered by these miserable 
men should be known before he healed them, asked one of the devils 
his name, who answered, " Legion, for we are many," Mark v. 9 ; 
begging, at the same time, that he would not command them to repair 
into the deep, or bottomless pit, but suffer them to enter a herd of 
swine, feeding at a distance. 

How subtle are the wiles of the devil ! The power of the Son of 
God, he knew, was not to be resisted ; but he could not help envying 
the benevolent miracles he had wrought for the sons of men : and 
was therefore willing to j>revent as much as possible their good effects 
on the miserable people of this country. This was the true reason 
why he begged leave to enter the herd of swine : he knew if he could 
obtain that permission, he could destroy them ; and this he hoped 
would render our blessed Saviour odious to the wicked inhabitants 
of Gadara. 

Though Jesus well knew his crafty design, yet he permitted the 
devils to enter the swine, that his disciples and others who were with 
him might be fully convinced that these unhappy persons were really 
possessed by apostate spirits ; and at the same time give them a terri- 
ble instance of their power, when free from all restraint. 

The divine permission was no sooner granted than the spectators 
beheld at a distance the torments these poor creatures suffered, with 
what amazing rapidity they ran to the confines of the lake, leaped 
from the precipices into the sea, "and perished in the waters;" while 
the persons who, a moment before, were raving and cutting them- 
selves in the most shocking manner, became at once meek and com- 
posed, having recovered entirely the exercise of their reason. The 
keepers of the herd, terrified at this astonishing miracle, ran into the: 



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THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



city, publishing in every part the cure of the men possessed with* 
the devils, and the destruction of the swine. 

This surprising report threw the inhabitants into the greatest con- 
sternation : they left the city to be spectators of so wonderful an event, 
but when they saw the men who had been possessed sitting at the 
feet of Jesus, decently clothed, and in their right minds, their fear 
was increased. For, knowing they had trespassed in keeping the 
swine, which was contrary to the law of Moses, they dreaded a more 
severe punishment; and being ignorant of the goodness of Jesus, 
though he had given them so remarkable a proof of it in the cure of 
these wretched mortals, they besought him that he would leave their 
country. 

There prevailed a custom among the heathen, w T hen any illustrious 
hero had delivered his country from its enemies, or from any other 
great evil, to erect lofty columns to his memory ; his statue was seen 
in every place; altars blazed to his glory ; they honored him with the 
high appellation of Saviour; and thought nothing, not even divine 
honors, too great to confer upon him. But when Christ had removed 
a monster from the Gadarenes, more formidable and fearful than any 
in heathen history, even a "legion of devils," and rendered the way, 
by which no man could pass before, secure from danger, instead of 
being received by them as a Saviour and as a God, with the acclama- 
tions and hosannahs of the people, he was besought to depart out of 
their coasts. Stupid people ! They had indeed lost their herd of 
swine; but surely the valuable gift they had received in two of their 
countrymen and fellow-creatures being delivered from the tyranny of 
Satan, was better than the cattle on a thousand hills, and merited at 
least their thanks and acknowledgments ! 

The stupid request of the Gadarenes was, however, complied with 
by the blessed Jesus, who entering the ship, returned to the country 
from whence he came, leaving them a valuable pledge of his love, and 
us a noble pattern of perseverance in well-doing, even when our kind- 
nesses are condemned, or requited with injuries. He would not suffer 
the persons dispossessed to accompany him, though they earnestly re- 
quested it; but ordered them to stay in their own country, as a stand- 
ing monument both of his power and goodness. " Go home to thy 
friends," said the compassionate Jesus to one of them, " and tell them 
how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compas- 
sion on thee." Mark v. 19. 



THE 



LIFE OF CHRIST 



99 



CHAPTER IX. 

OUR LORD PROCEEDS IN ACTS OF MERCY AND BENEVOLENCE — ADDS MATTHEW TO 
THE NUMBER OF HIS DISCIPLES — CASTS OUT AN EVIL SPIRIT— PASSES AGAIN 
THROUGH GALILEE — SELECTS TWELVE FROM AMONG HIS DISCIPLES, AS HIS 
CONSTANT FOLLOWERS AND COMPANIONS, AND HARANGUES THE MULTITUDE IN 
AN EXCELLENT DISCOURSE. 

The arrival of our Saviour and his disciples at Capernaum, a city 
of Galilee, was no sooner published, than such throngs of people were 
gathered together, that the house could not contain them, nor even the 
court before it. He, however, preached the words of eternal life to the 
listening audience, among whom were many Pharisees and doctors of 
the law, who, from the fame of his miracles, were come from all quar- 
ters to hear him. 

He not only addressed them in the most nervous and pathetic 
manner, in order to inculcate the doctrines he delivered ; but also per- 
formed such astonishing miracles as ought to have removed all their 
scruples with regard to the truth of his mission. 

Among other instances he gave of his Divine power, was that of 
restoring a man to perfect health, who had long been afflicted with 
the palsy, and was reduced by that terrible disease to the most melan- 
choly condition, being unable to move any member of his body, but 
6eemed rather an ematiated carcass than a man. This miserable object 
was supported in his bed by four persons, who being unable to enter 
by the door, on account of the multitude, carried him to the top of the 
house, which, like the other roofs in that country, was flat, and had a 
battlement round, according to the direction given by Moses. Deut. 
xvii. 8. 

On these roofs there was a kind of trap-door, by which they came 
out of the houses upon the roofs, where they spent a considerable part 
of the day. It was also common to have a flight of stairs from the 
garden to the roof ; and by these the persons seem to have carried the 
sick of the palsy ; but finding the door fastened, forced it open, or 
uncovered the roof, and through the opening let down by ropes the 
sick of the palsy, lying on his bed, into the midst of the company, 
before Jesus, who seeing the faith of the friends of this afflicted person, 



100 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



he had compassion on him, and spake aloud, " Son, be of good cheer ! 
thy sins are forgiven thee." 

The pride of the Scribes taking offence at this saying, cried out, 
This man speaketh blasphemy ; for he appropriates that to himself, 
which is solely the province of Omnipotence. " Who can forgive 
sins, but God only?" They were ignorant that the person who 
uttered such gracious words was the Son of God ; and consequently, 
had the power of forgiving the sins of the human race. 

But our Lord who had recourse to the most secret recesses of the 
heart, and was willing to show them that he was really endued with 
the Spirit of God, said to them, " Wherefore think ye evil in your 
hearts ? For whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy 
sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk 
These were questions beyond the abilities of the haughty Scribes to 
answer, and they held their peace. The blessed Jesus then added, that 
the miracle he was going to perform would sufficiently demonstrate 
that he had not usurped what did not in the strictest manner belong 
to him. And turning himself from these bigoted teachers of Israel, 
towards the sick of the palsy, he said unto him, "Arise, take up thy 
bed, and go unto thine own house." Matt. ix. 6. 

Nor was this divine mandate any sooner given, than the man was 
restored to his former health and strength, and to the astonishment 
of all present, rose, took up his bed, and departed to his own house, 
glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw this great work, 
expressed the highest degree of surprise, mixed with admiration, for 
the great honor the Almighty had conferred on human nature. 
(C They glorified God, who had given such power unto men." 

But with regard to the Scribes and Pharisees, though they must 
have been confounded at this miracle, yet they still continued in 
their unbelief; an instance, which should awaken in us the most 
serious thoughts, as it abundantly demonstrates, that the palsy of the 
soul is a much more deplorable disease than the palsy of the body. 

The blessed Jesus having wrought this miracle, repaired to the 
sea-side, and taught a multitude of people. What the subject of his 
sermon was, the evangelists have not told us ; but it was, doubtless, 
like the rest, calculated to promote the eternal welfare of mankind. 

His discourse being ended, he returned to the city ; and in his way 
saw Matthew, or Levi, the son of Alpheus, a rich publican, sitting in 
his office, where the customs were levied, at the port of Capernaum, 
whom he ordered to follow him. Matthew immediately obeyed the 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



101 



summons, and followed the Saviour of the world, to pursue a far 
more honorable and important employment, being afterwards both an 
apostle and evangelist. 

A few days after his calling, he made a splendid entertainment for 
his Master, inviting all the publicans he knew; hoping that by 
hearing the heavenly conversation of Christ, they might also repent, 
and embrace the doctrines of the gospel. 

The self-righteous Scribes and Pharisees, who considered all men 
as sinners, except themselves, especially the publicans, were highly 
offended that one who called himself a prophet, should so far demean 
himself as to be seen in the company of such men ; and asked his 
disciples with an air of insolence, in the hearing of all the guests, 
how their Master could sit down at the same table with publicans 
and sinners ? 

Our Lord replied to this artful question, that the sick only had 
need of a physician, and desired them to reflect seriously on the 
prophet Hosea's declaration : " I will have mercy and not sacrifice." 
The turning sinners into the paths of righteousness, which is the 
highest act of benevolence, is far more acceptable to the Almighty, than 
all the ceremonies of the law of Moses, so highly magnified by your 
fraternity ; who, on many occasions, observe them at the expense of 
charity ; adding, " I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to 
repentance." The repentance of the righteous, is not so much the 
object of my attention as the conversion of sinners. 

This answer, however satisfactory to an unprejudiced person, was 
far from being so to the Scribes and Pharisees, who, joining with 
some of John's disciples, then present, returned to Matthew's house, 
and demanded of Jesus why his disciples wholly neglected to fast, a 
duty often performed by the rulers of Israel, and the disciples of 
John ? To this the blessed Jesus replied, it is not a proper season 
for the friends of the bridegroom to fast and afflict themselves, while 
they enjoy his company : " But the days will come, when the bride- 
groom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast." 
The various calamities and afflictions that shall attend them after the 
departure of their Master, shall cause them to fast, which they shall 
repeat as often as the circumstances of distress and danger, with which 
they are surrounded, shall require. And added, that to have obliged 
his disciples to observe the precepts of frequent abstinence at a time 
when he was employing them to preach the gospel, by which all 
the legal ceremonies of the law were to be abolished, would have 



102 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



been as absurd, as to sew a piece of new cloth upon a rotten garment, 
which would only make the rent the worse ; or to put new wine into 
old leathern bottles, which, on the first fermentation of the liquor, 
would burst. Indicating, that the old corrupt nature of man would 
not admit of a thorough reformation being made at once : that infant 
virtue must not immediately be put to the greatest trials, lest it be 
destroyed by the severity of the exercise. 

During this controversy between our Lord and the haughty Scribes 
and Pharisees, in Matthew's house, Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, 
came running to him in all the agonies of grief, and in the presence 
of the whole company, fell on the ground before him, beseeching 
that he would come and heal his daughter, who lay at the point of 
death. 

When did the beneficent Jesus deny his gracious assistance to those 
who implored it of him? He immediately arose, and followed the 
ruler towards his house, surrounded by a great multitude of people, 
who were desirous of seeing so great a miracle. 

But as he passed through the streets, a woman, who had for twelve 
years been afflicted with an issue, or flux of blood, and had spent her 
whole substance on physicians, to no purpose, "came behind him, and 
touched the hem of his garment : for she said within herself, If I 
may but touch his clothes I shall be well." Nor was she deceived ; 
for no sooner had she touched the border of the garment of the Son 
of God, than "her issue of blood dried up:" and she felt, by the 
return of her health and strength, and other agreeable sensations that 
accompany such sudden changes, from painful diseases to perfect 
health, that the cure was absolutely complete. 

But this transaction could not be concealed : the blessed Jesus 
knew the whole, and her secret thoughts, before she put them in 
practice; and, pleased with the opinion this woman had entertained 
both of his power and goodness, would not, by any means, suffer it 
to pass unapplauded. Accordingly, he turned himself about, and 
asked, "Who touched me?" He well knew the person : but asked 
this question for the fuller manifestation of the woman's faith, and 
that he might have an opportunity of instructing and comforting her. 

His disciples being ignorant of what had passed, were surprised at 
the question: "Thou seest," said they to their Master, " the multi- 
tude thronging and pressing thee, and sayest thou, Who touched 
me?" They did not distinguish between the spiritual and corporeal 
touch, nor knew that such efficacious virtue had gone out of their 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



103 



Master. Jesus, however, persisted in knowing who it was that had 
done the thing : and the woman, finding it vain to conceal her action 
any longer, came to him, trembling, and told him all. Perhaps the 
uncleanness of her distemper was the reason of her fear, thinking he 
would be offended, even at her touching the hem of his garment. 
JBut the divine physician, far from being angry, spake to her in the 
kindest manner, and commended her faith, on which account he had 
consented to heal her plague : " Daughter, be of good comfort : thy 
faith hath made thee whole." Matt. ix. 22. 

Such a miraculous incident must, doubtless, have greatly strength- 
ened the ruler's faith ; for, behold, a virtue, little inferior to that of 
raising the dead, issues from the border of Christ's garment, and 
heals a disease, which, for the space of twelve years, had baffled all 
the precepts of the healing art, and defied the power of medicine. 
Indeed, the faith of this ruler had great need of the strongest confir- 
mations ; for news was brought him, that his daughter was even now 
dead; and therefore it was needless for him to give any further 
trouble to Jesus, not in the least suspecting that he had power to 
recall the fleeting spirit, and to reanimate a breathless carcass. 

This message was a terrible blow to the affectionate parent. His 
only daughter, who, a few days before, was in the bloom of youth, 
was now a pale and lifeless corpse ; and with her all his joys and 
comforts were fled. But Jesus, commiserating his grief, desired him 
to be comforted, promising that his daughter should be made whole. 

On his coming to the ruler's house, he found it full of mourners, 
who made terrible lamentations ; a sufficient demonstration that the 
damsel was really dead. And, accordingly, when our blessed Saviour 
desired the mourners to cease their funeral ceremonies, as " the maid 
was not dead, but sleeping/' they " laughed him to scorn." 

It is necessary to remark, in this place, that the Jews, when they 
spoke of a person's death, styled it " sleep," to intimate their belief 
that his spirit existed in the happy scenes of paradise, and their hopes 
of a future resurrection to life eternal. But the blessed Jesus used 
the word with remarkable propriety, to signify, that though she was 
now locked in the cold embraces of death, yet he was going to release 
her from the power of the king of terrors, with the same ease as a 
person is awaked from sleep. Thus our blessed Saviour, in the very 
manner of performing a miracle, modestly declined the honor that 
would undoubtedly result from a work so greatly superior to all the 
powers of the sons of men. 



CHRIST RAISING JAIRUS' DAUGHTER. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



105 



Having thus briefly addressed the mourners, he entered the chamber 
where the damsel was lying, but suffered none to follow him, except 
Peter, James and John; together with the father and mother of the 
damsel. Probably his reason for suffering these only to be specta- 
tors of so stupendous a work, was, that they might have an opportu- 
nity of examining the whole transaction in the most careful manner, 
and be thence enabled, afterwards, to report it upon the fullest con- 
viction, and with every circumstance of credibility. 

The blessed Jesus now approached the body, took her by the hand, 
and, with a gentle voice, said, " Maid, arise ! " The heavenly com- 
mand was instantly obeyed : the damsel arose, as from a sleep, and 
with all the appearance of health and vigor; for Jesus commanded to 
give her something to eat : a plain proof that she did not appear in 
the weak and languishing condition of a person worn out with dis- 
ease, or even like one who had fainted away; a circumstance that 
abundantly proves the greatness and perfection of the miracle. It is. 
therefore, no wonder that her parents should be astonished at so- 
stupendous a work, the fame of which was soon spread through all 
the neighboring country; though Jesus, who was in every sense above 
praise, and therefore never courted it, had strictly charged them that 
they should tell no man what was done. 

These instances of power did the blessed Jesus display, to convince 
the world, that those who die in him are not dead ; and that he hath 
the keys of life and death. Those also of the present age, who believe 
that the soul sleeps with the body till the resurrection, would do well 
to consider the expression of the evangelist, " Her spirit came again/' 
Luke viii. 55; which sufficiently shows that the soul exists sepa- 
rately, when the body is laid in the chambers of the grave. 

Having performed this benevolent miracle, our blessed Saviour 
left the ruler's house, and was followed through the streets by two 
blind men, imploring assistance ; nor did they implore in vain. The 
Eedeemer of mankind was, and still is, always ready to grant the 
petitions of those who apply to him for relief. Accordingly, he was 
no sooner entered into the house, to avoid the thronging of the mul- 
titude, than he touched their eyes, and said, " According to your 
faith, be it unto you," Matt. ix. 29 ; and immediately the valuable 
gift of sight was bestowed upon them. 

The blind men were so overjoyed at beholding the light, that 
though our Saviour charged them to keep the miracle a secret, they 
published his fame in every part of the country, being unwilling to 



106 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



oonceal what, in gratitude for so great a mercy, they thought them^ 
selves obliged to divulge. 

The men who had thus miraculously received their sight, being 
departed, the multitude brought to him a "dumb man possessed with 
a devil." So moving a sight could not fail of attracting a compas- 
sionate regard from the Saviour of the world, who, being never 
weary of well-doing, immediately cast out the apostate spirit; on 
which the dumb man recovered the use of his speech, and spoke in a 
very rational manner to the multitude, who, with one voice, declared, 
that such wondrous works were never wrought by any of the old 
prophets. " It was never so seen in Israel." Matt. ix. 33. 

These works did not remove the prejudices of the Pharisees, who, 
being unable to deny the miracle, insinuated that he did it by a 
power received from Beelzebub, " the prince of the devils." A poor 
pretence, indeed, which did not escape the animadversion it deserved 
from the Saviour of the world, as we shall see in a succeeding 
<?hapter. Well might the prophet Isaiah cry out, in a prophetic 
ecstacy, " Who hath believed our report ? And to whom is the arm 
-of the Lord revealed ? " 

But all their calumnies could not provoke the meek and merciful 
Jesus to cease from performing these compassionate offices for the 
children of men. On the contrary, he exerted himself still more and 
more, to promote the prosperity and salvation of the whole human 
Tace. Accordingly, he left Capernaum, and travelled through the 
•country, in search of miserable objects, on whom he might confer 
happiness and peace : visiting " all the cities and villages, teaching in 
their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and 
healing every sickness, and every disease among the people." Matt, 
ix. 35. 

In his return from this tour to Capernaum, he was attended by 
a great number of people, who expressed a more than common desire 
to hear the doctrine of the gospel. An incident abundantly sufficient 
to engage the attention of this divine teacher, who was always careful 
to cultivate the latent seeds of virtue, and cherish the least appear- 
ance of piety and religion. 

It was not this desire of the people alone that excited his compas- 
sion towards them : he well knew they were wholly destitute of 
spiritual teachers ; for the Scribes and Pharisees, who ought to have 
instructed them, were blind, perverse, and lazy guides, who, instead 
of seeking the glory of the Almighty, made it their whole business to 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



107 



support and augment their own. They magnified the ritual cere- 
monies and traditions, but took no care to inspire the people with a 
love for virtue. "To do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with 
their God," were no parts of their doctrine. The small appearance 
of religion they entertained was wholly hypocritical ; and the disputes 
carried on with so much bitterness, between the factions of the Phari- 
sees and Sadducees, distracted the minds of the people. 

The inhabitants of Judea were truly in a deplorable situation, 
which called loudly for the compassion of the Son of God, who 
always regarded the descendants of Jacob with the most tender affec- 
tion. He saw the sheep of Israel scattered on the barren wastes of 
error and superstition ; without a shepherd to lead them to the heav- 
enly pastures of the law and the prophets. He saw ; he commiser- 
ated their distress; and resolved to provide some remedy for it. 
Accordingly, he directed his apostles to intercede with the Almighty, 
who, by his servants, the prophets, had sown the seeds of piety and 
virtue in the minds of the Jews, that he would not suffer the rich 
harvest to be lost, for want of laborers. " The harvest," said the 
blessed Jesus to his disciples, " truly is plenteous, but the laborers 
are few. Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he will 
send forth laborers into his harvest." Matt. ix. 37, 38. 

To these gracious acts he added the most powerful of all interces- 
sions to the throne of grace, his own prevailing prayer. And, 
accordingly, ascended to the top of the mountain, and there spent the 
night in making the most powerful petitions, in behalf of " the lost 
sheep of Israel," to his heavenly Father. 

Having spent the night in this pious exercise, he lost no time in 
putting his beneficent intentions in execution : for no sooner had 
darkness withdrawn her sable veil, and the blushing rays of the 
morning adorned the chambers of the east, than this benevolent 
Redeemer of mankind called his disciples to him, and chose twelve, 
"whom he named apostles, to be with him : and that he might send 
them forth to preach." He ordered them to be with him, that they 
might learn from his own mouth the doctrines they were to preach to 
the whole world; that they might "see his glory," the transcendent 
glory of the virtues which adorned his human life ; and that they 
might be witnesses of all the wondrous works he should perform 
during his residence in the vale of misery, and by which his mission 
from the courts of heaven was to be fully demonstrated. 

These twelve persons, thus qualified, were to supply the people 



108 



THE LIFE OP CHRIST. 



with that spiritual food they so greatly wanted, both while their 
Master continued here below, and after his ascension to the right 
hand of Power. 

Having ordained them to their respective offices, he sent them out 
by two and two, into the most distant parts of Judea, to preach there 
the glad tidings of the gospel, and prepare the way for their Master, 
the great Shepherd of Israel. 

And that nothing might be wanting to render their preaching 
acceptable to the people, and confirm the important doctrines they 
delivered, he invested them with full power to cure all diseases, cast 
out devils, and even to raise the dead. 

Perhaps the number of the twelve apostles was fixed upon rather 
than any other, to show that God intended, by their ministry, to 
gather together the scattered remnant of the twelve tribes of Israel. 
But be that as it may, these twelve apostles constantly continued with 
him from the time of their election, till he offered himself a sacrifice 
on the cross, for the sins of mankind, never departing from him, 
unless by his own appointment 

AH these persons being illiterate Galileans, and at first destitute of 
the qualifications necessary in the discharge of their duty, integrity 
alone excepted, were the most unlikely persons in the world to 
confound the wisdom of the wise, baffle the power of the mighty, 
overturn the many false religions which then flourished everywhere, 
under the protection of the civil government; and, in short, to reform 
the manners of mankind, then universally corrupted. 

Had the choice of instruments for so grand an undertaking been 
committed to human prudence, such, doubtless, would have been 
chosen, as were remarkable for learning, strong reasoning, and pre- 
vailing eloquence. But behold the wisdom of God, infinitely superior 
tc that of man, acted very differently ; for the treasure of the gospel 
was committed to earthen vessels, that the excellency of its power 
might in all countries appear to be of God. 

Accordingly, the religion which these illiterate Galileans taught 
through the world, exhibited a far jnster notion of things than the 
Grecian and Eoman philosophers were able to attain, though their 
lives were spent in study and contemplation. Hence, by its own 
intrinsic splendor, as well as by the external glory of the miracles 
that accompanied it, this religion sufficiently appeared to be wholly 
original and divine. 

Besides, its truth and dignity were sufficiently attested by the 



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109 



remarkable success that attended it. It was received everywhere by 
the bulk of mankind with the highest applause, as something they 
Lad hitherto been seeking in vain ; while the maxims and precepts 
of the philosophers seldom spread farther than their respective 
schools. 

It was ; therefore, with the highest wisdom that the foundations of 
the church were laid in the labors of a few illiterate fishermen, for it 
demonstrated, with irresistible evidence, that the immense fabric was 
at first raised, and is still sustained, not by the arm of flesh, but 
purely by the hand of the Almighty. 

After appointing the twelve apostles, he came down from the 
mountain, and was joyfully received by the multitudes of people who 
were waiting for him in the plain, and pressed to touch him ; well- 
knowing that if they could only touch the border of his garment, 
they should be healed of whatever distemper they were afflicted with. 
A sufficient reason why they were continually waiting for him, and 
were willing to accompany him, even into the remotest corners of the 
wilderness. 

The preaching and miracles of our Lord were not attended to by 
the low and vulgar only ; persons of the first rank and character 
came from distant parts of the country, to converse with him, hear 
his doctrine, and be spectators of his wonderful works. It therefore 
evidently appears, that persons of all ranks were desirous of following 
him ; and their desire could be founded on nothing but the truth of 
his miracles. 

After healing all the sick among the multitude, he turned towards 
his disciples, and delivered a divine discourse, something like that he 
had before preached to them on the mountain ; but in the former, he 
only pronounced blessings, whereas, in the latter, he added curses 
also ; and in this principally it differs from that recorded by St. 
Matthew : I shall therefore only select a few passages from the 
sermon now delivered, as I have given a larger paraphrase on the 
former. 

"AYo unto you that are rich, for ye have received your conso- 
lation.^ Luke vi. 24. Riches, considered in themselves, have no 
tendency to render us the objects of the Almighty's hatred, unless 
accompanied with those vices which too often flow from an opulent 
fortune; as luxury, covetousness, and the like. The wo, therefore, 
is here denounced against such only as are contaminated with these 
vices ; for those who make a proper use of their wealth, and possess 



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the virtues which should accompany affluence, have no share in the 
malediction. 

" Wo unto you that are full, for ye shall hunger." The pain ye 
shall suffer in a future life shall be sharp and excruciating. The op- 
portunities you neglected of doing good to your afflicted brethren in 
this life, shall then be remembered with the most poignant grief, and 
bewailed with the most bitter lamentations. " Wo unto you that 
laugh now, for ye shall mourn and weep." This malediction of our 
blessed Saviour is not inconsistent with the apostle's precept, which 
commands Christians always to rejoice. Neither is the mirth, against 
which the wo is here denounced, to be understood of that constant 
cheerfulness of temper which arises in the breast of true Christians, 
from the comfortable and cheerful doctrine with which they are en- 
lightened by the gospel, the assurance they have of reconciliation 
with God, the hope they have of everlasting life, and the pleasure 
they enjoy in the practice of virtue and the other duties of religion ; 
but it relates to that turbulent, carnal mirth, that excessive levity and 
vanity of spirit, which arises not from any solid foundation, but from 
immoderate sensual pleasures, or those vain amusements of life in 
which the giddy and the gay contrive to spend their time ; that sort 
of mirth which dissipates thought, leaves no time for consideration, 
and gives them an utter aversion to all serious reflection. Persons 
who constantly indulge themselves in this kind of mirth, shall weep 
and mourn eternally, when they are excluded from the joys of heaven, 
and banished for ever from the presence of God, by the light of 
whose countenance all the righteous are enlivened, and made trans- 
cendently happy. 

" Wo unto you when all men shall speak well of you, for so did 
their fathers to the false prophets." Wo unto you, if by propagating 
such doctrines as encourage men in sin, you shall gain to yourselves 
the applause and flattery of the generality of men ; for thus in old 
times did the false prophets and deceivers, who, accommodating their 
doctrines to the lusts and passions of men, gained the applause of men, 
but incurred the wrath and displeasure of a just and all-seeing God. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER X. 

CONTINUATION OP OUB LORD'S GLORIOUS DOCTRINES — BENEFICENT ACTS, AND 
ASTONISHING MIRACLES WROUGHT IN CONFIRMATION OF THE DIVINITY OF 
HIS MISSION, AND THE EXTENDING OF HIS HEAVENLY KINGDOM. 

The divine preacher having closed this excellent sermon, repaired 
to Capernaum, and was met by certain messengers from a centurion, 
desiring him to come and heal a servant, who was dear to him and 
ready to die. 

This centurion, from the account given of him by the evangelists, 
seems to have been a proselyte to the Jewish religion, as he was a 
lover of the sons of Jacob, and had erected for them a place of wor- 
ship ; and accordingly the inhabitants of Capernaum strongly espoused 
his cause on this occasion ; saying, " that he was worthy for whom he 
should do this : for he loveth our nation, and hath built us a syna- 
gogue." Luke vii. 4, 5. 

There was not the least danger that this petition would be re- 
jected by the blessed Jesus, who sought all occasions of doing good 
to the children of men. Accordingly, he very readily accompanied 
the messengers ; but before he came to the house, he was met by 
some of the centurion's friends, who expressed the high idea that 
officer entertained of his power, and desired that he would not take 
the trouble of coming to his house, as his word was abundantly suf- 
ficient to perform the cure. At this message Jesus turned himself 
about, and said to the multitude, " I say unto you, I have not found 
so great faith, no, not in Israel." Luke vii. 9. 

The persons having delivered their message, returned to the house, 
and found the servant who had been sick perfectly recovered. 
- Having thus miraculously healed the centurion's servant, he re- 
paired to Peter's house to eat bread ; but the multitude came again 
together, and surrounded the house in a very tumultuous manner, 
demanding, in all probability, that he should heal their sick ; and it 
was not without difficulty they were dispersed by his friends. 

The multitude being dispersed, Jesus called unto him the twelve 
apostles he had before chosen, and conferred on them the power of 
Working miracles, in confirmation of the doctrines they were ap- 



1 1 2 



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PLAEST OF JERICHO. 



pointed to preach, and delivered them such instructions as he thought 
necessary to enable them to discharge the duties of this important 
commission. 

" Go," said their heavenly Master, " and preach, saying, «he king- 
dom of heaven is at hand." Publish in every corner of Judea, the 
glad tidings of the gospel, and the near approach of the great Mes- 
siah's kingdom ; not a temporal, but a spiritual empire, consisting of 
righteousness and peace. 

To inure them to those hardships and dangers which were to at- 
tend them in their preaching after the death of their Master, our 
Lord forbad them to provide anything for their journey; teaching 
them to rely wholly on the providence of God for support in every 
distress, and to have recourse to his protection in every danger. 

Our Lord's disciples had, perhaps, nattered themselves with the 
pleasing expectation, that the glad tidings they were going to publish, 
and the miraculous cures they were enabled to perform, would pro- 
cure them an honorable reception wherever they came. Their 
Master, however, told them the event would not in any manner 
answer their expectations ; but that they were everywhere to be de- 
spised, persecuted, delivered into the hands of the rulers, and punished 
as wicked men ; but at the same time he promised them the aid of 
the Almighty, and gave them instructions for their behavior in 
every particular. He added, that those who rejected their message 
should be treated with severity by the great Judge of all the earth ; 




8 



THE WIDOW'S SON RESTORED TO LIFE, 



113 



114 



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but those who received them kindly, and gave even a cup of cold' 
water to the least of his disciples, for their Master's sake, should not 
fail of receiving a large reward. 

Having received this commission, the apostles visited all the parts 
of Palestine where the Jews inhabited, preaching the doctrine of re- 
pentance, working miracles for its confirmation, and particularly 
healing the sick, while our blessed Saviour continued the course of 
his ministry in Galilee. 

The apostles being returned from their tour, Jesus went to Nain, a 
town situated near End or, about two miles south of Mount Tabor, 
attended by many of his disciples, and a great multitude of people. 

On their coming to the entrance of the city, a melancholy scene 
presented itself to the eyes of Jesus and his followers : " Behold, there 
was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was 
a widow." Luke vii. 12. 

" When the Lord saw her he had compassion on her : " he both 
sought the patient, and offered the cure unexpectedly. "Weep not,"' 
said the blessed Jesus to this afflicted woman. Alas! it had been 
wholly in vain to bid her refrain from tears who had lost her only 
child, the sole comfort of her age, without administering the balm of 
consolation, to heal her broken spirit. This our compassionate Re- 
deemer well knew; and, therefore, immediately advancing towards the 
corpse, " he touched the bier : " the pomp of the funeral was instantly 
stopped, silence closed every mouth, and expectation filled the breast 
of every spectator. But this deep suspense did not long continue; 
that glorious voice which shall one day call our dead bodies from the 
grave, filled their ears with these remarkable words : " Young man, 
I say unto thee, arise." Nor was this powerful command uttered 
without its sure effect : " He spake, and it was done : " he called with 
authority, and, immediately, " he that was dead sat up, and began to* 
speak ; and he restored him to his mother." He did not show him 
around to the multitude ; but, by a singular act of modesty and hu- 
manity, delivered him to his late afflicted, now astonished and 
rejoicing mother, to intimate, that in compassion to her great distress,, 
he had wrought this stupendous miracle. 

A holy and an awful fear fell on all who heard and saw this 
astonishing event ; " and they glorified God, saying, a great prophet 
is risen up among us ; and God hath visited his people." 



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115 



CHAPTER XL 

TOE CHARACTER OF JOHN THE BAPTIST CLEARED AND JUSTIFIED BY THE BLES- 
SED JESUS — DISPLAY OF OUR LORD'S HUMILITY AND CONDESCENSION. 

We have taken notice in a foregoing chapter, that Herod, incensed 
at the honest freedom of the Baptist's reproving his adulterous com- 
merce with Herodius, his brother Philip's wife, had cast him into 
prison, and in this state he still continued, though his disciples were 
suffered to visit and converse with him. In one of these visits they 
had given him an account of our Saviour's having elected twelve 
apostles to preach the gospel, and of his miracles, particularly of his 
raising to life the daughter of Jairus, and the son of the widow of 
Nain. 

On hearing these wonderful relations the Baptist immediately dis- 
patched two of his disciples to Jesus, to ask him this important 
question : "Art thou he that should come, or look we for another ?" 

Accordingly, the disciples of John came to Jesus, and proposed the 
question of their master at the very time when he " cured many of 
their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits, and to many that 
were blind he gave sight." Matt. xi. 4, 5. Jesus, therefore, instead 
of directly answering their question, bid them return, and inform 
their master what they had seen: "Go, and shew John again those 
things which ye hear and see ; how the blind receive their sight, and 
the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead 
are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." Matt, 
xi. 4, 5. Go tell your Master, that the very miracles the prophet 
Isaiah so long since foretold should be wrought by the Messiah, ye 
yourselves have seen performed. 

It appears from Scripture, that the Baptist, through the whole 
course of his ministry, had borne constant and ample testimony to 
our Saviour's divine mission ; that he exhorted those who came to 
him, to rest their faith not on himself, but on " him that should come 
after him ; " and that as soon as he was acquainted who Jesus was, by 
a visible descent of the Holy Ghost, and a voice from heaven, he 
made it his business to dispose the Jews in general, and his own dis- 
ciples in particular, to receive and reverence him, by testifying 



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everywhere that he was the "Son of God, the Lamb of God who 
came down from heaven and spake the words of God, and to whom 
God had given the Spirit not by measure." 

A remarkable figure, this John the Baptist ! Four hundred years 
before his appearance the prophet Malachi had announced that the 
Messiah would have a forerunner, one who would prepare the way 
for his great advent ; one who would smoothe the path for such foot- 
steps as never consecrated the world before. John's advent was in 
keeping with that of his more illustrious Master. He, too, might 
have been born in a manger, and nursed among the cattle of the stalls. 
His manner of life was very simple; his food was locusts and wild 
honey; like princely Elijah, he wore a shaggy mantle. No need of 
purple nor a crown ! His mission was to testify of the Christ, and 
point to him as the Lamb of God. 

The Baptist therefore well knew who Jesus was, and consequently 
he did not send his disciples to ask this question to solve any doubt 
in his mind concerning the Saviour of the world. 

But it may be asked what else could induce the Baptist to put 
such a question ? To this some answer, that he had no other in- 
tention than to satisfy his disciples that Jesus was the Messiah so long 
expected among the Jews, and to engage them to follow a more per- 
fect Master, especially as he himself was now on the point of leaving 
the world. 

This solution is doubtless partly right, but to some it does not re- 
move the whole difficulty, as they think it is plain, from the very 
account recorded by the evangelist, that the question had actually 
some relation to himself; and therefore we must remove the difficulty 
by another method. In order to which, they say, it must be remem- 
bered, that John had been long confined in prison ; and being per- 
suaded that it was necessary for him to preach the gospel, and prepare 
men to receive the kingdom of the Messiah, and for that reason, from 
the very time of his imprisonment, earnestly expected that the Mes- 
siah would exert his power to procure his release. But on hearing 
that Jesus had chosen twelve illiterate fishermen to preach the gospel, 
and furnished them with miraculous powers, in order to enable them 
to perform so great a work ; and that two persons of no consequence 
were raised from the dead, while he was suffered to remain in prison, 
he began to think himself neglected, and his services disregarded. 
He therefore sent two of his disciples to ask him this question, "Art 
thou he that should come, or look we for another?" Not that he 
entertained any doubt of his being the true Messiah, intending 



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117 



nothing more by making the demand, but to complain that Jesus had 
not acted the part which he thought the Messiah should have acted ; 
and that this was really the case seems sufficiently plain from the 
caution added by our blessed Saviour himself : " And blessed is he 
whomsoever shall not be offended in me:" as if he had said, when 
you have informed your master of what you have seen and heard, tell 
him that he would do well not to be offended either at the choice of 
the Apostles, or that no miracle has been wrought for his release. 

From this circumstance it is evident that impatience, on account of 
his long confinement, Avas the true reason for the Baptist's sending his 
disciples with this question to Jesus, and that the purport of the 
answer was to teach him submission in a case that was plainly above 
the reach of his judgment. 

Lest the people from this conversation should imbibe any notion 
prejudicial to the character of the Baptist, our blessed Saviour thought 
fit to place it in a proper point of light. He praised his invincible 
courage and constancy, which was not to be overcome, or " like a reed 
to be shaken with the wind :" his austere and mortified life ; for he 
was not " clothed in soft raiment," like those who wait in the palaces 
of kings ; adding, that he was " a prophet, nay, more than a prophet : 
for this is he of whom it was written, Behold I send my messenger 
before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee." But 
subjoined, " notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of 
heaven is greater than he." The propriety of this remark will 
appear when it is considered, that though the Baptist excelled all the 
prophets that were before him, yet the least inspired person in the 
kingdom of heaven, the least apostle or preacher of the gospel, was 
greater than he, because by constantly attending on Jesus, they were 
much better acquainted with his character, disposition, and doctrine 
than the Baptist, who had only seen him transiently ; wherefore, in 
respect of their personal knowledge of the Messiah, the apostles greatly 
excelled the Baptist. 

Having thus shown the greatness of the Baptist's character, and 
wherein he was surpassed by the disciples, our blessed Saviour took 
occasion from thence to blame the perverseness of the age in rejecting 
both his own and the Baptist's testimony. 

It seems that the Scribes and Pharisees, seeing their pretended 
mortifications eclipsed by the real austerity of the Baptist, impudently 
affirmed that his living in the desert, his shunning the company of 
men, the coarseness of his clothing, the abstemiousness of his diet, 



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THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



and the other severities he practised, were the effects of his being 
possessed by an apostate spirit, or of a religious melancholy. " For 
John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say he hath a devil." 
Matt. xi. 18. 

On the other hand, they would not listen to the heavenly doctrines 
preached by Christ, because he did not separate himself from society : 
attributing his free manner of living to a certain looseness of dis- 
position, though they well knew that he observed the strictest temper- 
ance himself, and never encouraged the vices of others, either by 
dissimulation or example. "The Son of man came eating and 
drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a wine-bibber, 
a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her 
children." Matt. xi. 19. 

He next proceeded to upbraid the several cities where his most 
wonderful works had been performed. For though they had heard 
him preach many awakening sermons, and seen him perform many 
astonishing miracles, such as would have converted Tyre, Sidon, and 
Sodom, cities infamous for their impiety, contempt of religion, pride, 
luxury, and debauchery; yet so great was their obstinacy, that they 
persisted in their wickedness, notwithstanding all he had done to 
convert them from the evil of their ways. " Woe unto thee, Chorazin, 
woe unto thee, Bethsaida ; for if the mighty works that have been 
done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have 
repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, it 
shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment 
than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, 
shall be brought down to hell ; for if the mighty works which have 
been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained 
until this day. But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable 
for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee." Matt, 
xi. 21, etc. 

Having denounced these judgments on the cities which had 
neglected to profit by his mighty works, he concluded his discourse 
with these heavenly words : " Come unto me, all ye that labor and 
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, 
and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find 
rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" 
Matt. xi. 28, etc. 

Having concluded this public address, one of the Pharisees, named 
Simon, desired he would "eat with him;" the blessed Jesus accepted 



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119 



"the invitation, accompanied him to his house, and sat down to meat. 
He had not continued long at the table, before a woman who had 
lately left the paths of vice for those of virtue, placed herself behind 
him, and from a deep conviction of her former crimes, and the 
obligations she owed the Saviour of mankind for bringing her to a 
sense of them, shed such quantities of tears that they trickled down 
on his feet, which, according to the custom of the country, were then 
bare. But observing that her tears had wet the feet of her beloved 
instructor, she immediately wiped them with the hair of her head, 
kissed them with the most ardent affection, and anointed them with a 
precious ointment she had brought with her for that purpose. 

It was a custom among the inhabitants of the East, to pour fragrant 
oils on the heads of such guests as they intended particularly to honor 
while they sat at meat ; and probably the woman's original intention 
was to anoint Jesus in the usual manner. But being exceedingly 
humbled on account of her former crimes, she could not presume to 
take such a freedom with him, and therefore poured it on his feet, to 
express at once the greatness of her love and the profoundness of her 
humility. 

The Pharisee, who had attentively observed the woman, concluded 
from thence that our Saviour could not be a prophet. " This man," 
said the Pharisee to himself, "if he were a prophet, would have 
known who, and what manner of woman that is that toucheth him ; 
for she is a sinner/' Luke vii. 38. 

But though Simon spoke this only in his heart, his thoughts were 
.not concealed from the great Redeemer of mankind, who, to convince 
him that he was a prophet, and that he knew not only the characters 
of men, but even the secret thoughts of their hearts, immediately con- 
versed with him on the very subject he had been revolving in hi3 
mind. He did not indeed expose him before the company, by relat- 
ing what he had said in secret, but with remarkable delicacy pointed 
out to Simon alone the unreasonableness of his thoughts. " Simon," 
said the blessed Jesus, " I have something to say to thee : There was 
a certain creditor, which had two debtors : the one owed five hundred 
pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he 
frankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will 
love him most?" Simon ansAvered and said, "I suppose that he to 
whom he forgave most." And he said unto him, " thou hast rightly 
judged." And then immediately applied this short parable to the 
subject of the woman, on which the Pharisee had so unjustly reasoned 



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with himself, "Simon," continued our Saviour, " seest thou this 
woman ? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for 
my feet ; but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them 
with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss; but this woman,, 
since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head 
with oil thou didst not anoint ; but this woman hath anointed mv 
feet with ointment." Luke vii. 40. 

This woman's kind services were in no danger of losing their re- 
ward from the blessed Jesus, who possessed the softer and finer feel- 
ings of human nature in their utmost perfection. Accordingly, he 
added, in pursuance of the kind invitation he had before made to 
weary and heavy-laden sinners, " Wherefore I say unto thee, her 
sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much ; but to whom 
little is forgiven the same loveth little." Luke vii. 47. 

The blessed Jesus having thus commended the conduct of the 
woman to the company, and rebuked, with great delicacy, the unjust 
suspicions of Simon, turned himself to the woman, and in the kindest 
manner assured her, that " her sins were forgiven." But the power 
hci assumed in forgiving sins greatly offended the Jews, who, not 
being acquainted with his Divinity, considered his speech as deroga- 
tory to the honor of the Almighty. Jesus, however, contemned their 
malicious murmurs, and repeated his assurances, telling the woman 
that her faith had saved her, and bade her depart in peace. 

The next day Jesus travelled from Capernaum to different parts 
of Galilee, going " through every village, preaching and showing the 
glad tidings of the kingdom of God." Luke viii. 1. That is, he de- 
clared to the people the welcome tidings of the Almighty's being 
willing to be reconciled to the children of men, on condition of their 
repentance, and embracing the gospel of the grace of God. 

Leaving Galilee, he repaired to Jerusalem, to keep the passover, 
being the second feast of that kind since his public ministry. In this 
journey he was accompanied by certain pious women, "who minis- 
tered to him of their substance." 



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121 



CHAPTER XII. 

MIRACULOUS CURE EFFECTED AT THE POOL, OF BETHESDA— REPROOF OF THE 
SUPERSTITION OF THE JEWS, IN CONDEMNING THE PERFORMANCE OF NECES- 
SARY WORKS ON THE SABBATH DAY — AFTER DOING MANY ACTS OF MERCY 
AND WONDER, OUR BLESSED LORD IS VISITED BY HIS MOTHER AND HIS 
BRETHREN, AND MAKES A SPIRITUAL REFLECTION ON THAT INCIDENT. 

Our Lord had no sooner entered the ancient city of Jerusalem, so 
long famous for being the dwelling-place of the Most High, than he 
repaired to the public bath or pool, called in the Hebrew tongue 
"Bethesda," that is, "the house of mercy," on account of the miracles 
wrought there by the salutary effects of the water at certain seasons. 
This bath was surrounded by five porches or cloisters, in which those 
who frequented the place were sheltered both from the heat and cold ; 
and were particularly serviceable to the diseased and infirm, who 
crowded thither to find relief in their afflictions. These porches were 
now filled with a " great multitude of impotent folk — of blind, halt, 
and withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel 
went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water. 
"Whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in, was 
made whole of whatsoever disease he had." John v. 3, 4. 

Such is the account of this miraculous pool given us by St. John, 
the evangelist. Many controversies have arisen concerning the place, 
the time, and the nature of the pool ; questions which will perhaps 
never be answered, because the pool of Bethesda is not mentioned by 
any Jewish historians. 

The time when this miraculous effect took place is not precisely 
determined ; but it is almost universally agreed, that it could not be 
long before the coming of our Saviour ; and that the miracle was in- 
tended to lead us to the Son of God. For the gift of prophecy and 
of miracle had ceased among the Jews for above four hundred years ; 
and therefore to raise in them a more ardent desire for the coming of 
the Messiah, and to induce them to be more circumspect in observing 
the signs of his coming, God was pleased to favor them with this 
remarkable sign at Bethesda. And as the descendants of Jacob, in 
the last times, were very obnoxious not only to the irruptions and 



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tyranny of the Gentiles, but had wholly lost their liberty, so God 
favored them with this eminent token of his favor, this wonderful 
pool, that they might not despair of the promises made to their fore- 
fathers being fulfilled. 

The pool was situated near the gate of victims, which were figures 
of the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ, that they might be convinced 
God had yet a regard to the posterity of Abraham, and the worship 
which he himself had established; and might thus support themselves 
with the pleasing hope of the coming of the Messiah, the great Angel 
of the Covenant, to his temple. And as this miracle of the angel 
descending from heaven began when the coming of the Messiah was 
at hand, to advise them of the speedy and near approach of that 
promised salvation, so Christ entered these porches, which were situ- 
ated without the temple, and performed the miracle I shall presently 
relate, to indicate what was the true intent of this gift of healing, 
namely, to lead men to himself, " the fountain opened for sin and 
uncleanness : " and the waters were troubled only at this certain season 
of the passover, or at other stated periods, and one only healed each 
time the angel descended, to show them at once the weakness of the 
law, and the great difference between that and the gospel dispensa- 
tion ; and to teach them not to rest satisfied with the corporeal benefit 
only, as in the ministration of an angel ; but to reflect attentively on 
the promises of the Messiah's approaching advent. 

These remarks I conceived might be necessary to the reader, relat- 
ing to the celebrated pool, and shall now return to the blessed Jesus, 
who thought proper to visit the porches of Bethesda, now crowded 
with persons laboring under various diseases. 

Among these objects of pity was one who had labored under his 
infirmity no less than thirty and eight years. The length and great- 
ness of this man's afflictions, which were well known to the Son of 
God, were sufficient to excite his tender compassion, and make him 
the happy object to demonstrate that his power of healing was in- 
finitely superior to the sanative virtue of the waters of Bethesda, 
while the rest were suffered to remain in their affliction. 

Our compassionate Lord now approached the man whom he had 
singled out as the person on whom to manifest his power : he asked 
him whether he was desirous of being made whole. A question 
which must induce the man to declare publicly his melancholy case, 
in the hearing of the multitude, and consequently render the miracle 
more conspicuous. And as this was done on the Sabbath day, our 



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123 



blessed Saviour seems to have wrought it to rouse the sous of Jacob 
from their lethargy, aud convince the inhabitants of Jerusalem that 
the long-expected Messiah was now come, and that " God had 
actually visited his people." 

This distressed mortal beholding Jesus with a sorrowful counte- 
nance, and understanding that he meant his being healed by the 
sanative virtue of the waters, answered, in a plaintive accent, " Sir, I 
hav<Q no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool ; 
but while I am coming another steppeth in before me." John v. 7. 
But the compassionate Redeemer of mankind soon convinced him 
that he was not to owe his cure to the salutary nature of the waters, 
but the unbounded power of the Son of God, and accordingly said to 
him, "Rise, take up thy bed and walk." £sor was the heavenly 
mandate any sooner uttered, than the impotent man, to the astonish- 
ment of the multitude, "was made whole: and took up his bed, and 
walked." John v. 9. 

This great and miraculous cure could not fail of having a proper 
effect on the spectators ; and his carrying his bed on the Sabbath day, 
which the Jews considered as a profanation of that day of rest, tended 
greatly to spread the fame of the miracle over the whole city. JSor 
did the man scruple to obey the commands of his kind physician : he 
well knew that the person who had the power of working such 
miracles must be a great prophet; and consequently that his injunction 
could not be sinful. He therefore thought that he gave a sufficient 
answer to those Jews who told him it was not lawful to carry his bed 
on the Sabbath day, to say, " He that made me whole, the same said 
unto me, Take up thy bed and walk." John v. 11. He that restored 
my strength in an instant, and removed, with a single word, a disease 
that had many years afflicted me, commanded me, at the same time, 
to take up my bed and walk ; and surely a person endued with such 
power from on high, could not have ordered me to do anything but 
what is truly right. 

The votaries of infidelity should remember that this signal miracle 
was performed in an instant, and even when the patient did not ex- 
pect any such favor, nor even knew the person to whom he owed it. 
None, therefore, can pretend that imagination had any share in per- 
forming it. In short, the narrative of this miracle of mercy suffi- 
ciently proves, that the person who performed it was really divine. 

The Jews had long expected the Messiah : but they had expected 
him to appear as a temporal prince, who would not only restore the 



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former lustre of the throne of David, but infinitely augment it, and 
even place it over all the kingdoms of the earth. And, hence, they 
were unwilling to acknowledge Jesus for their Messiah, notwithstand- 
ing the proofs of his mission were so undeniable, because they must 
in so doing have abandoned all their grand idea of a temporal king- 
dom. Our blessed Saviour, therefore, desired them to consult their 
own scriptures, particularly the writings of the prophets, where they 
would find the characters of the Messiah displayed, and be fully con- 
vinced they were all fulfilled in his person. 

He also gave them to understand, that the proofs of his mission 
were as full and clear as possible, being supported by the actions of 
his life, which in all things agreed with his doctrine ; for he never 
sought the applause of men, or assumed secular power, but wa& 
always innocent and humble, though he well knew that these virtues 
made him appear little in the eyes of those who had no idea of a 
spiritual kingdom, but expected the Messiah would appear in all the 
pomp of secular authority. 

In short, the fatal infidelity of the Jews was principally owing to 
their pride. They had long filled the minds of the people with 
grand ideas of the glory and power of the Messiah's kingdom ; they 
had represented him as a potent prince, who was to appear at once 
adorned with all the ensigns of power ; and therefore to have ascribed 
that august character to a mere teacher of righteousness, destitute 
even of the ordinary advantages of birth, fortune, and erudition, 
would have been so plain a confession of their ignorance of the 
scriptures, as must have exposed them to the ridicule and contempt 
of the whole people. 

Our blessed Saviour added, that he himself should not be their 
own accuser to the God of Jacob for their infidelity ; but Moses, their 
great legislator, in whom they trusted, would join in that unwelcome 
office; for by denying him to be the Messiah they denied the writings 
of that prophet. "For, had ye," added he, "believed Moses, ye- 
would have believed me, for he wrote of me : but if ye believe not 
his writings, how shall ye believe my words ?" John v. 46, 47. 

Thus did the blessed Jesus assert himself to be the Son of God, the 
great Judge of the whole earth, and the Messiah promised by the 
prophets ; and at the same time gave them such convincing proofs of 
his being sent from God, that nothing could be said against them. 

Convincing as these proofs were, they yet did not in the least abate 
the malice of the Scribes and Pharisees ; for the very next Sabbath, 



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lard 



upon his disciples plucking a few ears of corn as they passed through 
the fields, and eating the grain after rubbing it out in their hands, 
they again exclaimed against this violation of the Sabbath. But our 
blessed Saviour soon convinced them of their error, by showing, both 
from the example of David and the constant practice of their own 
priests, who never omitted the necessary works of the temple on the Sab- 
bath day, that works of necessity were often permitted, even though 
they broke a ritual command ; that acts of mercy were the most accept- 
able services to God on anv day whatever : that it was inverting the 
order of things to suppose that " man was made for the Sabbath, and 
not the Sabbath for the benefit of man/' Adding, that if the service of 
the temple should be said to claim a particular dispensation from the 
law of the Sabbath, he and his disciples, whose business of promoting 
the salvation of mankind was of equal importance, might justly claim 
the same exemption, as they were carrying on a much nobler work 
than the priest who attended on the service of the temple. Thus did 
our blessed Saviour prove, that works of mercy should not be left 
undone, though attended with the violation of some of the most 
sacred institutions of the ceremonial law. 

Soon after this dispute with the Scribes and Pharisees, our blessed 
Saviour entered one of the synagogues of Jerusalem on the Sabbath 
-day, and found there a man whose right hand was withered. 

The Pharisees, who observed the compassionate Jesus advance 
towards the man, did not doubt but he would attempt to heal him ; 
and therefore watched him attentively, that they might have some- 
thing to accuse him of to the people. 

Their hypocrisy was arrived at that enormous pitch, that they de- 
termined to injure his reputation, by representing him as a Sabbath- 
breaker, if he dared to heal the man, while they themselves were 
profaning it by an action which would have polluted any day, 
namely, that of seeking an opportunity of destroying a person who 
had never injured them, but who had done many good actions for the 
sons of Jacob, and was continually laboring for their eternal welfare. 

The Saviour of the world was not unapprized of these malicious 
intentions. He knew their designs and defied their impotent power, 
by informing them of the benevolent action he designed, though he 
well knew they would exert every art they were masters of, in order 
to put him to death. 

Therefore when our Saviour ordered the man to show himself to 
the whole congregation, in order to excite their pity, these hypocritical 



]26 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



teachers declared, in the strongest terms, the unlawfulness of his per- 
forming even such beneficent actions on the Sabbath : " Is it lawful to 
heal on the Sabbath day ?" They did not, however, ask this question 
with an intention to hinder him from performing the miracle. No,, 
they had a very different intention to that of accusing him ; for they 
hoped he would have declared openly that such actions were lawful j 
or at least make no reply to their demand, which they would have 
construed into an acknowledgment of what they asserted. 

Nor did our Lord fail to expose their malice and superstition, and 
accordingly asked them, " Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good 
rfr to do evil ? to save life, or to destroy it?" Luke vi. 9 Is it not 
more lawful for me, on the Sabbath day, to save men's lives, than for 
you to seek my death without the least provocation ? This was a 
severe rebuke, and would admit of no answer ; they therefore " held 
their peace," pretending not to understand his meaning. He there- 
fore made use of an argument, which stupidity itself could not fail of 
understanding, and which all the art of these hypocritical sophists was 
unable to answer. " What man," said the blessed Jesus, " shall there 
be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on 
the Sabbath day will he not lay hold on it and lift it out : how much 
then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do welL 
on the Sabbath day." Matt. xii. 11, 12. 

The former question they pretended not to understand, and there- 
fore held their peace; but this argument effectually silenced them, 
though they were determined not to be convinced. This unconquer- 
able obstinacy grieved the spirit of the meek, the benevolent Jesus, 
who beheld them "with anger;" that, if possible, an impression might 
be made either on them or the spectators. But at the same time that 
he testified his displeasure towards the Pharisees, he uttered words of 
comfort to the lame man, bidding him stretch forth his hand; and he 
no sooner obeyed the divine command than " his hand was restored 
whole, as the other." 

This astonishing work performed in the midst of a congregation, 
many of whom doubtless knew the man while he labored under this 
infirmity, and in the presence of his most inveterate enemies, must 
certainly have had a great effect on the minds of the people, especially 
as they saw that it had effectually silenced the Pharisees, who had 
nothing to offer, either against the miracle itself or the reasonings and 
power of him who had performed it. 

But though these whited sepulchres, as our blessed Saviour justly 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



12T 



termed them, were silenced by his arguments and astonished at his 
miracles, yet they were so far from abandoning their malicious inten- 
tions that they joined their inveterate enemies, the Herodians, or 
Sadducees, in order to consult how they might destroy him ; well 
knowing that if he continued his preaching and working miracles, the 
people would wholly follow him, and. their own power soon become 
contemptible. Jesus, however, thought proper to prevent their mali- 
cious designs, by retiring into Galilee, and there pursue his benevolent 
intentions. 

This retreat could not, however, conceal him from the multitude, 
who flocked to him from all quarters, bringing with them sick and 
maimed, who were all healed and sent away in peace. 

During this dispute with the Pharisees, Jesus was informed that 
his mother and brethren, or kinsmen, were without, desiring to speak 
to him: upon which the blessed Jesus stretched out his hands towards 
his disciples, and said, " Behold my mother and my brethren. For 
whosoever shall do the will of my Father, which is in heaven, the 
same is my brother, and sister, and mother." Matt. xii. 49, 50. This 
glorious truth should be stamped on the minds of all believers, as it 
shows that every one, of what nation or kindred soever, who is brought 
into subjection to the will of God, is allied to the blessed Jesus and 
entitled to the salvation of God. 




AN EASTERN FUNERAL. 



128 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

OUR LORD DELIVERS MANY REMARKABLE PARABLES, AND EXPLAINS SEVERAL OP 
THEM — RETURNS TO NAZARETH AND COMMISSIONS THE TWELVE APOSTLES, WHOM 
HE HAD BEFORE SELECTED AS HIS CONSTANT ATTENDANTS AND FOLLOWERS, TO 
DISPERSE AND PREACH THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN DIVERS PLACES 
— AFTER THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST, THE APOSTLES RETURN TO 
NAZARETH. 

The miraculous power of our blessed Lord, both in performing the 
most astonishing acts and confuting the most learned of the Phari- 
saical tribe, who endeavored to oppose his mission and doctrine, 
brought together so great a multitude, that he repaired to the sea-side ; 
and for the better instructing the people, he entered into a ship, and 
the whole multitude stood on the shore. Being thus conveniently 
seated, he delivered many precepts of the utmost importance, begin- 
ning with the parable of the sower, who cast his seed on different 
kinds of soil, the products of which were answerable to the nature of 
the ground, some yielding a large increase, others nothing at all. By 
this striking similitude the blessed Jesus represented the different 
kinds of hearers, and the different manner in which they are affected 
by the truths of religion. Some wholly suppress the doctrines de- 
livered ; in others they produce the fruits of righteousness, in propor- 
tion to the goodness of their hearts. And surely a more proper 
parable could not have been delivered, when such multitudes came to 
hear his discourses, and so few practiced the precepts or profited by 
the heavenly doctrines they contained. 

The parable being finished, his disciples asked, why he taught the 
people in parables ; to which he answered, " Because it is given unto 
you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it 
is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he 
shall have in more abundance ; but whosoever hath not, from him 
shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I unto them 
in parables : because in seeing they see not ; and in hearing they hear 
not, neither do they understand." Matt. xiii. 11, etc. As if he had 
said, You, my beloved disciples, who are of an humble, docile temper, 
and are willing to use means, and resort to me for instruction and the 



SOWING THE GOOD SEED. 



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131 



said he, " soweth the word." The seed therefore implies the doc- 
trines of true religion, and the various kinds of soil the various kinds 
of hearers. The ground by the highway-side, which is apt to be 
beaten by men treading upon it, is an image of those who have their 
hearts so hardened with impiety, that though they hear the gospel 
preached it makes no impression on their callous hearts, because they 
either hear it inattentively or quickly forget the words of the preacher. 
And surely no similitude could more strongly represent this insensi- 
bility and inattention, than the beaten ground, bordering on the high- 
way, into which the seed never entering, it is picked up by the fowls 
of the air, or trodden and broken by the feet of the passengers. 
a When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth 
it not, then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which is 
sown in his heart : this is he which received the seed by the way- 
side." Matt. xiii. 19. We must not suppose that the devil has 
the power of robbing hearers of their knowledge by any immediate 
act of his own, because he is said to catch away the word sown in their 
hearts, but by the opportunities they give the deceiver of mankind for 
exerting his strong temptations, and particularly those which have a 
relation to commerce with men ; a circumstance that could not escape 
the observation of St. Luke, who tells us that the seed was* trodden 
down, or destroyed, from their own headstrong lusts, which, like so 
many birds pinched with hunger, devour the seed implanted in their 
minds. The rocky ground represents those hearers who so far receive 
the word into their hearts that it discovers itself by good resolutions, 
formed on slight conviction, which are, perhaps, accompanied with a. 
partial reformation of some sins, and the temporary practice of some 
virtues. But the word has not sunk deep enough in their minds to 
remain constantly there: its abode with them is only for a season ; and, 
therefore, when persecution ariseth for the sake of the gospel, and such 
hearers are exposed to tribulations of any kind, the blade which 
sprung up, quickly withers for want of being watered with the 
streams of piety and virtue; like the vegetable productions of the 
earth when deprived of the enlivening rains and dews of heaven and 
a want of earth to contain this balmy fluid, when the rays of the sun 
dart in full vigor upon them ; " But he that received the seed into 
stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy 
receiveth it : yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while; 
for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and 
by he is offended." Matt. xiii. 20, 21. 



132 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



The ground encumbered with thorns, which sprung up with the 
seed and choked it, represents all those who receive the word into 
hearts already filled with the cares of this world, which will, sooner 
or later destroy whatever good resolutions are raised by the word. 
The cares of the world are compared to thorns, not only because of 
their pernicious tendency to choke the word, but because they cannot 
be eradicated without great pain and difficulty. In this parable, the 
hearers of this denomination are distinguished from those who receive 
the seed on stony ground, not so much by the effect of the word upon 
their minds as by the different causes of unfruitful ness in each; for in 
both the seed sprang up, but brought forth no fruit. 

Those represented by the stony ground have no depth of soil ; those 
by the thorny ground, are choked by the cares of this world, the 
deceit-fulness of riches and the love of pleasures, which, sooner or 
later, stifle the impressions of the word ; by which means they at last 
become as unfruitful as the former. But both are distinguished from 
those hearers represented by the seed sown by the highway-side, that 
they receive the word, and, in some measure, obey its precepts; 
whereas the first never retained the word at all, hearing without at- 
tention ; or, if they do attend, forget it immediately. " lie .also that 
received seed among the thorns, is he that heareth the word ; and the 
cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and 
he becometh unfruitful. " Matt. xiii. 22. 

In opposition to these unprofitable hearers of the word, others are 
represented as hearing the word attentively, understanding it clearly, 
and treasuring it up with great care. These are convinced of the 
truths delivered, and practice them, though contrary to their preju- 
dices and opposite to their inclinations. All those bring forth, some 
an hundred-fold, some sixty, and some thirty, in proportion to the 
different degrees of strength in which they possess the graces neces- 
sary to the profitable hearing the word of righteousness. 

Having ended this interpretation of the parable of the sower, he 
continued hjs discourse to his disciples, explaining to them, by the 
similitude of a lighted lamp, the use they were expected to make of 
all the excellent instructions they had and should receive from him. 
Their understanding, he told them, was to illuminate the world, as a 
brilliant lamp placed in the centre of an apartment enlightens the 
whole. He added, that though some of the doctrines of the gospel 
were then concealed from the people, because of their prejudices, yet 
the time would come when these doctrines should be preached openly 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



133 



and plainly through the world ; and therefore it was their duty, to 
whom God had given both an opportunity of hearing and a capacity 
of understanding these doctrines, to listen with the utmost attention. 
" Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed, and 
not to be set on a candlestick ? For there is nothing hid which shall 
not be manifested; neither was anything kept secret, but that it 
•should come abroad. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear." 
Matt. iv. 21, 22, 23. 

But as it was a matter of great importance that the disciples, who 
were to publish the gospel throughout the whole world, should listen 
with the closest attention to his sermons, he repeated his admonitions, 
adding, that their present privileges and future rewards should be 
both proportioned to the fidelity and care with which they discharged 
the important trust committed to them. " Take heed what ye hear : 
with what measure you mete it shall be measured to you ; and unto 
you that hear shall more be given." Mark iv. 24. 

Having explained these parables to his disciples, he turned himself 
to the multitude on the shore, and, in his usual endearing accent, 
delivered the parable of the enemy's sowing tares among the wheat, 
and on their first appearance, astonishing the husbandman's servants, 
who knew the field had been sowed with good seed ; and, in order to 
free the wheat from such injurious plants, proposed to root them up. 
But this the husbandman absolutely refused, lest by extirpating the 
one they injured the other; adding, that he would take care, at the 
time of harvest, to give orders to his reapers, that they should first 
gather the tares into bundles, and burn them, and afterwards carry 
the wheat to the granaries. "The kingdom of heaven," said the 
blessed Jesus, " is likened to a man which sowed good seed in his 
field : but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among 
the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, 
and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the ser- 
vants of the householder came, and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou 
sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? Ho 
said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto 
him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, 
Kay ; lest while ye gather up the tares ye root up also the wheat with 
them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of 
harvest I will say unto the reapers, Gather ye the tares, and bind 
them in bundles to burn them ; but gather the wheat into my barn."" 
Matt. xiii. 24, etc. This parable of the tares being ended, he spako 



134 



'THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



another concerning the seed which sprang up secretly, representing 
the gradual progress of the gospel among the sons of men. 

The next parable he spake to the multitude was that of the 
mustard-seed, which though very small when sown, becomes, in Pal- 
estine and other parts of the East, a large, spreading tree. Inti- 
mating to his audience, under this similitude, that notwithstanding 
the gospel would at first appear contemptible from the ignominv 
flowing from the crucifixion of its author, the strictness of its precepts, 
the weakness of the persons by whom it was preached, and the small 
number and mean condition of those who received it ; yet, being 
founded on truth itself, it would increase to an astonishing magnitude, 
filling the whole earth and affording spiritual nourishment to persons 
of all nations, who should enjoy all the privileges of the Messiah's 
kingdom equally with the Jews. And surely a more proper parable 
could not have been uttered to encourage his disciples to persevere in 
the work of the ministry, notwithstanding it would in the beginning 
be opposed by the learned, the rich, and the powerful. " The king- 
dom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took 
and sowed in his field : which indeed is the least of all seeds : but 
when it is grown it is the greatest among, herbs, and becometh a tree, 
so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.'' 
Matt. xiii. 31, 32, 

Our blessed Saviour concluded his discourse to the multitude with 
the parable of the leaven, to intimate the influence of the doctrine of 
the gospel on the minds of particular persons : " The kingdom of 
heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three 
measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.''' Matt. xiii. 33. 

AYhile Jesus was thus employed in his heavenly Father's business, 
his mother and brethren came a second time, desiring to see him. In 
all probability they feared that the continued fatigue of preaching 
would injure his health; and were therefore desirous of taking him 
with them, that he might refresh himself. But the blessed Jesus, who 
was never weary of doing good, answered his indulging parent as be- 
fore : " My mother and my brethren are those which hear the word of 
God and do it." Luke viii. 19. 

Xight approaching, Jesus dismissed the multitude, and returned to 
the house in Capernaum, where he abode, and there explained to his 
disciples the parable of the tares in the field. The husbandman, said 
our blessed Saviour, is the Son of man. The field, the Christian 
church, planted in different parts of the world. The wheat are those 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



Christians that believe in Christ, who obey the precepts of the gospel, 
and are supported by the influences of the Holy Spirit ; and the tares, 
the bad professors, seduced into the paths of vice by the temptations 
of the devil. Our blessed Lord, therefore, by this parable, repre- 
sented the mixed nature of the church on earth, the dismal end of the 
hypocrites, and those who forget God ; for these may deceive for a 
time, by assuming the robes of virtue and religion ; yet they will not 
fail, sooner or later, to betray themselves, and show that they are only 
wolves in sheep's clothing. At the same time, however sincerely we 
may wish to see the church freed from her corrupted members, we 
must not extirpate them by force, lest, being deceived by outward ap- 
pearances, we also destroy the wheat, or sound members. We must 
leave this distinction to the awful day, when the great Messiah will 
•descend to judgment; for then a final separation will be made, the 
wicked cast into torments that will never have an end, but the 
righteous received into life eternal, where they shall " shine forth as 
the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Matt. xiii. 43. 

Our Lord on this occasion delivered the parables of the treasure hid 
in the field, and of the. pearl of great price, both designed for the same 
purpose, to promote the diligence, zeal, and resolution of his disciples, 
in searching into and teaching these great and important truths, in 
which the glory of God, and the salvation of souls, were so much con- 
cerned. 

And, surely the similitudes, both of the treasure and pearl, are very 
naturally used to signify the gospel ; the former as it enriches all who 
possess it ; and the latter, because it is more precious than rubies. 

But that the disciples must expect that the Christian church would 
consist of a mixed multitude of people, the good blended with the 
bad in such a manner that it would be difficult to separate them, he 
compared it to a net cast into the sea, which gathered fish of every 
kind, good and bad, which were separated when the net was drawn to 
land ; that is, at the last great day of accounts, when the righteous 
will be conveyed to life eternal, and the wicked cast into everlasting 
misery. 

Our blessed Saviour having finished these parables, asked his dis- 
ciples if they understood them ; and upon their answering in the 
affirmative, he added, that every teacher of the gospel ought to re- 
semble a person whose house was completely furnished, and brought 
4e forth out of his treasure things new and old." Matt. xiii. 52. 

Soon after Jesus left Capernaum, and repaired to Nazareth, where 



136 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



he had been brought up, and preached in the synagogue the glad 
tidings of the kingdom of God ; but his townsmen, though astonished 
at his doctrine, could not overcome the prejudices they had conceived 
against him, on account of the meanness of his family, and thence re- 
fused to own him for the Messiah. Our Saviour finding them the 
same incorrigible persons as when he visited them before, departed 
from them, and taught in the neighboring villages. They, in common 
with all the Jews, were strangers to the true character of the Messiah, 
whom they considered as a temporal prince; and therefore could not 
bear that a person so mean as Jesus appeared to be, should perform 
works peculiar to that idol of their vanity, a glorious, triumphant,, 
secular Messiah. 

While our Lord resided in the neighborhood of Xazareth, he sent 
out his disciples to preach in different parts of Galilee, and to pro- 
claim the glad tidings, that God w 7 as then going to establish the king- 
dom of the Messiah, wherein he would be worshipped in spirit and in 
truth. And in order that they might confirm the doctrines they de- 
livered, and prove that they had received their commission from the 
Son of God, they w r ere endowed with the power of working miracles. 
How long they continued their preaching cannot be known, but it is 
reasonable to think they spent a considerable time in it, preaching in 
several parts of Judea. 

The miracles which the apostles wrought raised the expectations of 
men higher than ever: the people were astonished to see the disciples 
of Jesus perform so many miracles ; and thence concluded that our 
Saviour must be greater than any of the old prophets, who could not 
transmit the power they enjoyed to any other. This extraordinary 
circumstance could not fail of spreading his fame through the whole 
country ; it even reached the ears of Herod the Tetrach, who, fearing- 
a person of such extraordinary abilities, was very uneasy; which some 
of his courtiers observing, endeavored to remove, telling him, that one 
of the old prophets was risen from the dead ; but this did not satisfy 
him, and he declared that he believed it was John the Baptist risen 
from the dead. "And he said unto his servants, This is John the 
Baptist : he is risen from the dead ; and therefore mighty works do 
shew forth themselves in him." Matt. xiv. 2. 

The evangelists having on this account mentioned John the Bap- 
tist, inform us that Herod had put him to death ; but when this hap- 
pened is uncertain. 

It has already been observed, that Herod had cast John into prison 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



131 



for his boldness, in reproving him for the adulterous eommercc in 
which he lived with his brother's wife. The sacred writers have not 
told us how long he continued in prison ; but it is plain from his two 
disciples, who came from him to our Saviour, that his followers did 
not forsake him in his melancholy condition. Nay, Herod himself 
both respected and feared him, knowing that he was highly and de- 
servedly beloved by the people : he consulted him often, and in many 
things followed his advice. But Herodias, his brother's wife, with 
whom he lived in so shameful a manner, being continually uneasy lest 
Herod should be prevailed upon to set him at liberty, sought all op- 
portunities to destroy him ; and at last an incident happened which 
enabled her to accomplish her intentions. 

The king having, on his birth-day, made a great feast for his- 
friends, she sent her daughter Salome, whom she had by Philip, her 
lawful husband, into the saloon, to dance before the king and his 
guests. Her performance was remarkably elegant, and so charmed 
Herod, that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she 
asked. 

Having obtained so remarkable a promise, she ran to her mother, 
desiring to know what she should ask ; and was instructed by that 
wicked woman to require the head of John the Baptist. Her moth- 
er's desire doubtless surprised Salome, as she could not possibly see 
the use of asking what could be of no use to her. But Herodias 
would take no denial, peremptorily insisting on her demanding the 
head of the Baptist. Accordingly she returned to Herod, saying, 
"I will that thou give me, by and by, in a charger, the head of John 
t!ie Baptist." 

So cruel a request thrilled every breast ; the gayety of the king was 
Vanished : he was vexed and confounded : but being unwilling to ap- 
pear either rash, fickle, or false, before a company of the first ^persons 
of his kino'dom for rank and character, he commanded the head to be 
given her; not one of the guests having the courage to speak a single 
word in behalf of an innocent man, or attempt to divert Herod from 
his mad purpose, though he gave them an opportunity of doing it, by 
signifying to them that he performed his oath merely out of regard to 
the company. Thus Herod, through a misplaced regard to his oath 
and his guests, committed a most unjust and cruel action ; an action 
that will forever brand his memory with dishonor, and render his 
very name detestable to the latest posterity. 

Soon after the command was given, the head of that venerable 



138 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



prophet, whose rebukes had struck Herod with awe in his loosest 
moments, and whose exhortations had often alarmed his guilty con- 
science, was brought pale and bloody, in a charger, and given to the 
daughter of Herodias, in the presence of all the guests. 

The young lady eagerly received the bloody present, and carried it 
to her mother, who enjoyed the whole pleasure of revenge, and feasted 
her eyes with the sight of her enemy's head, now silent and harmless. 
But she could not silence the sounding of the name of the Baptist ; it 
became louder and louder, filling the earth and heavens, and pub- 
lishing to every people and nation this woman's baseness and adul- 
tery. 

Thus fell that great and good man, John the Baptist, who was pro- 
claimed by our blessed Saviour himself to be " more than a prophet." 
Josephus tells us, that his whole crime consisted in exhorting the Jews 
to the love and practice of virtue : and in the first place, to piety, jus- 
tice, and regeneration, or newness of life ; and not by the abstinence 
from this or that particular sin, but by an habitual purity of mind 
and body. 




RUINS OF THE COLISEUM AT ROME. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



139 



CHAPTER XIV. 

OUR LORD ADDS TO THE CONFIRMATION OF HIS MISSION AND DOCTRINE BY WORK- 
ING A MIRACLE IN THE WILDERNESS OF BETHSAIDA — THE PEOPLE, STRUCK WITH 
THE POWER AND GRACE OF THE BLESSED JESUS, PROPOSE TO RAISE HIM TO 
THE EARTHLY DIGNITY OF KING — PETER, BY MEANS OF HIS BLESSED MASTER, 
PERFORMS A MIRACLE IN WALKING UPON THE SEA— OUR LORD'S IMPROVEMENT 
OF THE MIRACLES WROUGHT IN THE WILDERNESS, INTRODUCED IN A DISCOURSE 
DELIVERED IN THE SYNAGOGUE OF CAPERNAUM. 

The disciples were so alarmed at the cruel fate of the Baptist, 
-whose memory they highly revered, that they returned from their 
mission, and assisted in performing the last offices to the body of their 
*old Master, many of the apostles having been originally disciples of 
John. As soon as these pious rites were over, they repaired to Jesus, 
.and told him all that had happened. 

Their compassionate Master, on hearing this melancholy news, re- 
tired with them, by sea, into a desert place, belonging to Bethsaida, 
that by retirement, meditation, and prayer, they might be refreshed 
and recruited for their spiritual labors ; and at the same time leave an 
example to us that we should often retire from the noise and hurry 
of the world, and offer up the most fervent prayers to our heavenly 
Father. 

But the multitude attended so closely, that their departure was not 
long concealed ; and great numbers of people repaired to the place 
where they supposed Jesus and his disciples had secluded themselves. 
Struck with the greatness of his miracles on those that were sick, and 
anxious to hear more instructions from the mouth of so divine a 
teacher, no difficulties were too great for them to surmount, nor any 
place too retired for them to penetrate, in search of their admired 
preacher. 

Nor was the beneficent Saviour of the world regardless of their 
pious esteem. He saw them, he was " moved with compassion" 
towards them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd, 
multitudes of people without a pastor, a large harvest without la- 
borers ; motives abundantly sufficient to excite compassion in the Son 
of God. 

The situation of those numerous throngs of people scattered abroad, 




Ufl 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



141 



without a guide, without a guardian; a large flock of defenceless 
«heep, without a single shepherd to defend them from the jaws of the 
infernal wolf, was truly deplorable ; the blessed Jesus, therefore, that 
" good shepherd who came to lay down his life for the sheep," was 
moved with pity towards them : the same pity which brought him 
from the courts of heaven for the sake of his lost and wandering sheep 
in the desert, now brought him to this multitude of people, whom he 
instructed in the doctrines of eternal life ; and with his usual goodness, 
healed all the sick among them. 

Intently devoted to teaching and healing the people, our blessed 
Saviour did not seem to notice the day to wear away, and that the 
greatest part of it was already spent: but his disciples, too anxious 
about the things of this world, thought proper to advise him of it ; as 
if the Son of God wanted any directions from man. The day, said 
his disciples, is now far advanced, and the place a solitary desert, 
where neither food nor lodging can be procured : it would, therefore, 
be convenient to dismiss the people, that they may repair to the towns 
or villages on the borders of the wilderness, and provide themselves 
with food and lodging, for they have nothing to eat. 

But our Lord prevented that trouble, by telling them there was no 
necessity for sending the people away to procure victuals for them- 
selves, as they might satisfy the hunger of the multitude, by giving 
them to eat. And at the same time to prove what opinion his disci- 
ples entertained of his power, addressed himself to Philip, who was 
well acquainted with the country, and said, " Whence shall we buy 
bread, that these may eat?" 

Philip, astonished at the seeming impossibility of procuring a sup- 
ply for so great a multitude, with the small sum of money which he 
knew was their all, and forgetting the extent of his Master's power, 
answered, " Two hundred penny-worth of bread is not sufficient for 
them, that every one of them may take a little." John vi. 6. 

Our blessed Saviour might now have put the same question to Philip 
that he did on another occasion : " Have I been so long time with 
you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip ?" John xiv. 9. Hast 
thou beheld so many miracles, and art still ignorant that I can supply 
food not only for this people, but for all the sons of men, and for " the 
cattle upon a thousand hills ?" 

But he contented himself with answering, " Give ye them to eat." 
The twelve, not yet comprehending the design of their Master, re- 
peated the objection of Philip, but added that they were willing to 



142 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



expend their whole stock in order to procure as large a supply as pos- 
sible. " Shall we go," said they, " and buy two hundred penny-worth 
of bread, that they may eat ?" 

But this Avas by no means the design of their great Master, who, 
instead of making a direct answer to their question, asked them, " How 
many loaves have ye ?" How much provision can be found among 
this multitude ? go and see. 

The disciples obeyed the command of their Master, and Andrew 
soon returned to inform him, that the whole stock amounted to no 
more than five barley loaves and two small fishes ; a quantity so in- 
considerable that they scarcely deserved notice. " What are they," said 
his disciples, " among so many ?" What, indeed, would they have 
been among such a multitude of people, if they had not been distrib- 
uted by the creating hand of the Son of God ? 

Jesus, notwithstanding the smallness of the number, ordered them 
to be brought to him, and immediately commanded the multitude to 
sit down on the grass, with which the place abounded, directing his 
disciples at the same time to range them in a regular order, by hun- 
dreds and fifties in a company, each company forming a long square, 
containing a hundred in rank, and fifty in file, that the number might 
be more easily ascertained, and the people more regularly served. 

The multitude being seated, Jesus took the loaves and fishes into 
his hands, in the sight of all the people, that they might be convinced 
of the small quantity of provisions that were then before them, and 
that they could only expect to be fed by his supernatural power. But 
that hand which had constantly sustained nature could now easily 
multiply these five loaves and two fishes ; for, as the Psalmist elegantly 
observes, " He openeth his hand, and filleth all things living with 
plenteousness." Accordingly he looked up to heaven, returned thanks 
to God, the liberal giver of all good things, for his infinite beneficence 
in furnishing food for all flesh, and for the power he had conferred on 
him, of relieving mankind by his miracles, particularly for that he 
was about to work. This done, he blessed them ; and so peculiarly 
efficacious was his blessing, that these five barley loaves and two fishes 
were multiplied into a quantity sufficient to supply the wants of five 
thousand men, besides women and children, who, on the most favor- 
able supposition, must amount to an equal number. "And Jesus took 
the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disci- 
ples, and the disciples to them that were sat down ; and likewise of the 
fishes as much as they would." John vi. 11. 



144 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



Thus did the compassionate and powerful Redeemer feed at least 
ten thousand people with five barley loaves and two small fishes, 
giving a magnificent proof both of his power and goodness. For after 
all had eaten to satiety, they took up twelve baskets full of the broken 
pieces ; a much larger quantity than was at first set before our Lord 
to divide. 

The people, when they had seen the Saviour of the world perform 
so stupendous a miracle, were astonished above measure ; and, in the 
height of their transport, proposed to take Jesus by force, and make 
him a king, concluding that he must then assume the title of the 
Messiah, whose coming they had so long earnestly expected, and 
under whose reign they looked to enjoy all kinds of temporal 
felicities. 

But, our Lord, well knowing the intentions of the multitude, and 
the inclinations of his disciples to second them, ordered the latter to 
repair immediately to their boat, and sail for Bethsaida, while he sent 
away the multitude. They would, it seems, gladly have detained the 
people, with whom they fully agreed in sentiments; and even lingered 
till he constrained them to get into the boat; so fully were they still 
possessed that their Master was to take the reins of government, and 
become a powerful prince over the house of Jacob. 

The people suffered the disciples to depart, without the least re- 
morse, as they saw that Jesus did not go with them. 

Perhaps they imagined he was sending them away to provide such 
things as they had need of. JSTor did they refuse to disperse when he 
commanded them, purposing to return in the morning, as we find 
they actually did. 

Having thus sent the disciples and the multitude away, Jesus re- 
paired himself to the summit of a mountain, spending the evening in 
heavenly contemplations and ardent prayers to his Almighty Father. 

But the disciples, meeting with a contrary wind, could not continue 
their course to Bethsaida, which lay about two leagues to the north- 
ward of the desert mountain, where the* multitude were miraculously 
fed. They, however, did all in their power to land as near that city 
as possible, but were tossed up and down all night by the tempest, so 
that in the fourth watch, or between three and six o'clock in "the 
morning, they w^ere not above a league from the shore. 

Their divine Master beheld from the mountain the distressed situ- 
ation in which they were; but they were ignorant of his presence, 
though he was now comma: to their relief. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST; 



145 



- Such was the state of the disciples: they were tossed by boisterous 
waves, and opposed in their course by the rapid current of the wind ; 
so that all hopes of reaching the place intended were vanished ; When, 
behold, their heavenly Master, to assist them in this distressful situa- 
tion, comes to them, walking on the foaming surface of the sea. 

Their Lord's approach filled them with astonishment: they took 
him for an apparition, and shrieked for fear Their terrors were, 
however, soon removed ; their great and affectionate Master talked to 
them, with the sound of whose voice they were perfectly acquainted. 
" B2 of good cheer," said the blessed Jesus: " It is I, be not afraid." 

Peter, a man of a warm and forward temper, beholding Jesus walk- 
ing on the sea, was exceedingly amazed, and conceived the strongest 
desire of being enabled to perform so wonderful an action. Accord- 
ingly, without the least reflection, he immediately begged that his 
Master would bid him come to him on the water. He did not doubt 
but that Jesus would gratify his request, as it sufficiently intimated 
that he would readily undertake anything, however difficult, at the 
command of his Saviour. But it appeared that his faith was too 
weak to support him to that height of obedience to which he would 
have willingly soared. To convince this forward disciple of the 
weakness of his faith, and render him more diffident of his own 
strength, our blessed Saviour granted Peter his request. He ordered 
him to come to him on the water. 

Peter joyfully obeyed his divine Master; he left the boat, and 
walked on the surface of the sea. But the wind increasing, made a 
dreadful noise, and the boisterous waves, at the same time, threatened 
every moment to overwhelm him. His faith now staggered, his 
presence of mind forsook him, he forgot that his Saviour was at 
his hand ; and, in proportion as his faith decreased, the waters 
yielded, and he sunk. In this extremity he looked around for his 
Master; and, on the very brink of being swallowed up, cried, 
" Lord, save me ! " His cry was not disregarded by his compassion- 
ate Saviour : u He stretched forth his hand and caught him, and said 
unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" Matt, 
xiv. 31. 

Peter was convinced, before he left the ship, that it was Jesus 
who was coming to them on the water: nor did he even doubt 
it when he was sinking, because he then implored his assistance. 
But when he found the storm increase, and the billows rage more 
horribly than before, his fears suggested that either his Master would 
10 



3 46 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



be unable or unwilling to support him amidst the frightful blasts of 
the tempest. 

This miracle alarmed the disciples ; for, though they had so very 
lately seen the miracle of the five loaves, they did not seem to have 
before formed a proper idea of his power ; but being now persuaded 
that he could be no other than the expected Messiah, they "came and 
worshipped him, saying, Of a truth, thou art the Son of God." Matt., 
xiv. 33. 

Our Saviour seems to have confirmed this miracle by working 
another ; for the evangelists tell us, that he had no sooner entered the 

ship, and hushed the horrors 
of the storm, than they ar- 
rived at the place whither 
they were going. " Then they 
willingly received him into 
the ship, and immediately the 
ship was at the land whither 
they went." John vi. 21. 

When our Lord disem- 
barked, the inhabitants of the 
neighboring country ran to 
him, bringing with them all 
those that were sick; and they 
were all healed. It must be 
remembered, that though Je- 
sus ordinarily resided in the 
neighborhood of Capernaum, 
yet he had been absent ever 
since his visiting Nazareth ; 
and therefore it is natural to 
think, that the inhabitants, on his return, would not omit the op- 
portunity of bringing their sick in such prodigious crowds, that it 
seems our blessed Saviour did not bestow particular attention on each 
of them ; and this was the reason for their beseeching him, " that 
they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as 
touched were made perfectly whole." Matt. xiv. 36. 

The virtue of that power, by which he wrought these things, lay 
not in his garments : for then the soldiers, who seized them at his 
crucifixion, might have wrought the same miracles; but it was 
because Jesus willed it to be so. It was now the acceptable time. 




PETER SAVED BY JESUS. 




THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE. 



147 



143 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



the day of salvation, foretold by Isaiah, and Christ's power waa 
sufficient to remove any distemper whatsoever. 

But no sooner did the cheering rays of light appear, than the mul- 
titude left their retreat, and searched for Jesus in every part of the 
mountain, to the summit of which they had seen him retire. Finding 
their search in vain, they concluded that he must have departed for 
the other side, in some boat belonging to Tiberius, which had been 
forced by the storm to take shelter in a creek at the foot of the moun- 
tain. Accordingly, they repaired to Capernaum, where they found 
him in the synagogue teaching the people; and could not help asking 
him, with some surprise, " Rabbi, when earnest thou hither?" John 
vi. 25. 

To this question our Lord replied, that they did not seek him 
because they were convinced, by his miracles, of the truth of his 
mission, but because they hoped to be continually fed in the same 
miraculous manner as before. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye 
seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of 
the loaves and were filled," These are the views which induce you 
to follow me; but ye are entirely mistaken; for happiness does not 
consist in the meat that perish eth, nor is it that sort of meat ye must 
expect to receive from the Messiah. Mere animal foods, which 
please and delight the body only, are not the gifts he came down 
from heaven to bestow ; it is the meat that endureth to everlasting 
life, divine knowledge and grace, which, by renewing all the faculties 
of the soul, make it capable of enjoying eternal felicity : neither ought 
ye to follow the Son of man with any intention to obtain the meat 
that perisheth; but in the obtaining of the meat that endureth to 
everlasting life : " Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for 
that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of 
man shall give unto you : for him hath God the Father sealed." 
John vi. 27. 

But by the miracle of the loaves, my heavenly Father hath typified 
the true, the spiritual, the heavenly bread, which he himself giveth to 
the sons of men, and of which the manna was only a symbolical repre- 
sentation : the food that sustained the Israelites in the wilderness 
was sufficient only for a single nation, but this for all the children of 
men. 

Many of the Jews, who listened with pleasure to his doctrine, and 
having heard him describe the properties of the celestial bread, they 
were animated with an earnest desire of being always fed with it: 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



149 



"Lord," said they, "evermore give us this bread; to which the 
blessed Jesus answered, " I am the bread of life : he that cometh to me 
shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst/' 
John vi. 34. 

Having made this answer to those who listened attentively to his 
doctrine, he turned himself to such as had heard him with prejudice, 
aud took every advantage of wresting his words. You ask me, says 
he, to show you a sign, that ye may see and believe me to be the true 
Messiah. Surely you have seen it : you have seen my character and 
mission in the many miracles I have performed : miracles abun- 
dantly sufficient to convince you that I am really the Messiah so often 
promised by the ancient prophets, so long expected by the whole 
Jewish nation. But notwithstanding all these proofs, your hearts are 
still hardened; you expect a temporal prince, who shall raise the Jew- 
ish kingdom above all the empires of the earth ; and because I do not 
affect the authority and pomp of an earthly monarch, you reject me 
as an impostor. Your infidelity, therefore, does not proceed from 
want of evidence, as you vainly pretend, but from the perverseness of 
your own dispositions, which may perhaps in time be overcome ; for 
all those that the Father giveth me, however obstinate they may be 
for a season, will at last believe on the Son of God. Nor will I ever 
reject any that come to me, however low their circumstances may be, 
however vile they may appear in their own eyes, or however greatly 
their violence against my doctrines may have been exerted. I came 
down from heaven not to act according to the common method of hu- 
man passions, which excite men to return " evil for evil," but to bear 
with them ; to try all possible means to bring them to repentance ; and 
to lead them in the strait paths of righteousness, which terminate at 
the mansions of the heavenly Canaan. 

It is the fixed will of my Father, to bestow eternal life on all 
who truly believe in me ; and therefore I will raise them up at the last 
day. 

As the prospect of the greatest part of the Jews extended no farther 
than temporal privileges and advantages, it is no wonder that they 
were offended at this doctrine ; especially at his affirming, that he was 
the bread of life, and that he came down from heaven. Was not this 
man, said they, born into the world like other mortals ? And are we 
not acquainted with his parents ? How then can he pretend to come 
down from heaven ? 

But these degrading thoughts could not escape the censure of him 



150 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



to whom nothing is a secret : you need not, said the blessed Jesus, ob- 
ject to my birth, and the meanness of my relations, nor consider them 
as inconsistent with my heavenly extraction ; for while you believe 
your teachers, who have so shamefully corrupted the oracles of Om- 
nipotence, and filled your minds with the vain expectation of a tem- 
poral kingdom, you cannot believe on me. No man can believe on 
the Son of God, unless he be taught and assisted by the Father. You 
need not be surprised at this : for however ye may imagine that all 
men, at the appearance of the Messiah, will flock to him with great 
cheerfulness, and become the willing subjects of his kingdom, without 
any aid from the Holy Spirit, the prophets plainly foretold the con- 
trary ; for they promise that men shall enjoy the teaching of the Fa- 
ther in a far more eminent manner during the Messiah's kingdom, 
than under any preceding dispensation ; consequently persuasion, and 
the most earnest persuasion too, is necessary. You are not to under- 
stand that by being taught of God you are to see with your bodily 
eyes the invisible Jehovah, because that privilege is confined to the 
Son alone ; but that you are to be taught by the Spirit of God what- 
ever is requisite to your eternal interest in and by me, who am the 
way, the truth, and the life. 

This is the bread which came down from heaven ; a kind of bread 
infinitely superior to that of manna, both in its nature and efficacy. 
It is different in its nature from manna, because it is not to be eaten 
as your fathers did that food in the wilderness ; they " ate manna and 
are dead." It is different in its effect, because he that " eateth of this 
bread shall live forever/' 

These particulars Jesus spake in the hearing of all the people who 
attended the public worship in the synagogue of Capernaum, and 
though most of the metaphors were very easy to be understood, yet 
they did not comprehend what he meant by " eating his flesh and 
drinking his blood f a thing not only prohibited by the law of Moses, 
but also repugnant to the customs of all civilized nations. 

Many, therefore, who had followed him, considered it as incon- 
sistent and absolutely absurd. But Jesus answered, Are you offended, 
because I told you my flesh is bread ; that it came down from heaven, 
and that you must, in order to have eternal life, eat my flesh and 
drink my blood ? But what if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up 
bodily into heaven, from whence he was sent by his heavenly Father? 
You will then surely be persuaded that I really came from heaven ; 
and, at the same time, be convinced that you cannot eat my flesh in a 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



151 



corporeal manner. I never meant that you should understand the ex- 
pression literally : my flesh in that case would be of no advantage to 
the children of men. The metaphor was only used to indicate, that 
you must believe in the doctrines which I preach ; for to reveal these 
I took upon me the veil of flesh, and assumed the nature of man. It 
is, therefore, more properly my spirit that confers this life on the hu- 
man race, and renders them meet for immortal glory. My doctrine 
may perhaps be ineffectual to some of you, because ye are desirous of 
perverting it, and from thence to form a pretence for forsaking me. I 
well know the secret recesses of every heart ; and therefore told you, 
that no man can believe on me, except it be given him of my 
Father. 

The self-sufficient, self-righteous Jews were so offended at this dis- 
course, that many of them, who had hitherto been our Saviour's dis- 
ciples, went out of the synagogue, and never came more to hear him. 
They found that all their pleasing views of worldly grandeur and an 
extensive kingdom could have nothing more than an ideal founda- 
tion, if they acknowledged Jesus to be the Messiah. But as they 
were unwilling to abandon all their favorite hopes of power, they re- 
fused to own him for the great Redeemer of Israel they had so long 
-expected. 

When the Jews were departed, Jesus turned himself to his disci- 
ples, and with a look of ineffable sweetness said to them, "Will ye 
also go away?" To this Peter answered, "Lord, to whom shall we 
go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are 
sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." John vi. 
68, 69. 

Peter in this reply alluded to our Lord's declaration of himself, in 
which he says that he was the bread of life, founding his faith in him 
as the Messiah. But Jesus, to convince them that he was not ignorant 
of the most secret thoughts of the heart, nor afraid that his enemies 
should be spectators of his most retired actions, told him that one of 
the twelve was a wicked man, and would be guilty of the vilest ac- 
tion. The prediction of Jesus was punctually verified when Judas 
Tscariot, one of the twelve chosen disciples, basely betrayed his great 
Lord and Master. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XV. 

PHARISAICAL SUPERSTITION SEVERELY REPRIMANDED — THE GREAT REDEEMER 
CONTINUES TO DISPLAY HIS POWER AND BENEVOLENCE, IN THE RELIEF OF 
SEVERAL OBJECTS OF AFFLICTION — GUARDS HIS DISCIPLES AGAINST THE PRE- 
VAILING ERRORS AND FALLACIES OF THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES— PROCEEDS 
ON THE WORKS OF HIS HEAVENLY FATHER. 

• The season of the grand passover approaching, Jesus went up to 
Jerusalem, to attend that solemnity. But the Jews, being offended at 
his discourse in the synagogue of Capernaum, made an attempt upon 
his life. Our Lord, therefore, finding it impossible to remain at 
Jerusalem in safety, departed from that city, and retired into 
Galilee. 

The Pharisees were sensible they could not perpetrate their mali- 
cious designs upon him on that occasion; yet they followed him, 
hoping to find something by which they might accuse him, and at 
length ventured to attack him for permitting his disciples to eat with 
unwashed hands, because in so doing they transgressed the tradition 
of the elders. 

Moses had, indeed, required external cleanness as a part of their 
religion ; but it was only to signify how careful the servants of the 
Almighty should be to purify themselves from all uncleanness, both 
of flesh and spirit. These ceremonial institutions were, in process of 
time, prodigiously multiplied ; and the Pharisees, who pretended to 
observe every tittle of the law, considered it as a notorious offence to 
cat bread with unwashed hands ; though, at the same time, they suf- 
fered the more weighty precepts of the law to be neglected and for- 
gotten. 

To expose the absurdity of such superstitious customs, our Saviour 
applied to them the words of. the prophet Isaiah : " This people honor- 
eth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." Adding, that 
all their worship was vain and displeasing to the Almighty, while 
they practised themselves and imposed upon others the frivolous pre- 
cepts of man's invention, and, at the same time, neglected the eternal 
rules of righteousness ; and to remove all objections that might be 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST; 



153; 



brought against this imputation of gross profaneness in the Pharisees, 
he supported it by a very remarkable instance. 

God, said the Saviour of the world, hath commanded children to 
honor their parents, and to maintain them, when reduced to poverty 
by sickness, age, or misfortunes ; promising life to such as observe this 
precept, and threatening death to those who disregard it. But notwith- 
standing the peremptory commandment of Omnipotence, you teach 
that it is a more sacred duty to enrich the temple, than to nourish 
their parents, reduced to the utmost necessity ; pretending that what 
is offered to the great Parent of the universe is much better bestowed 
than what is given to the support of our earthly parents; making the 
honor of God absolutely different from that of his creatures. Nay, ye 
teach that it is no breach of the commandment, for a man to suffer his 
parents to perish, provided he has given what ought to nourish them 
to the temple at Jerusalem. Thus have you concealed under the 
cloak of piety the most irreligious and horrid, the most unnatural 
crime any person can commit. 

Having thus reproved the Pharisees, he called the multitude to 
him; and desired them to reflect on the absurdity of the precepts in- 
culcated by the Scribes. These hypocrites, said he, solicitous about 
trifles, neglect the great duties of morality, which are of eternal obli- 
gation. They shudder with horror at unwashed hands, but are per-* 
fectly easy, under the guilt of a polluted conscience ; though they must 
be sensible that "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth the 
man ; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth the man." 
Matt. xv. 11. 

The haughty Pharisees were highly offended at his speaking in 
a degrading manner of their traditions. And the apostles, who would 
gladly have reconciled their Master and the Pharisees, insinuated to 
Jesus, that he ought to have acted in another manner. To which 
our Saviour answered, "Every plant, which my heavenly Father 
hath not planted, shall be rooted up." Matt. xv. 13. As if he had 
said, you have no cause to fear their anger, as both they and their 
doctrine shall perish together, for neither of them came from God. 
Adding, " Let them alone : they be blind leaders of the blind ; and 
if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." Matt, 
xv. 14. 

His disciples, not fully comprehending this doctrine, desired their 
Master to explain it. This our Saviour complied with, and showed 
them, that meats being of a corporeal nature, could not defile the 



154 THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 

mind of man, or render him polluted in the sight of the Almighty, 
inless they were used to excess, or in opposition to the commandment 
of God : and even then the pollution arose from the man, and not 
from the meat. But, on the contrary, that which proceedeth out of 
the mouth of a man comes from his heart, and really polluteth his mind. 

These doctrines of the truth could not fail of irritating the Phari- 
sees, as they tended to strip them of the mask with which they con- 
cealed their deformity, and rendered themselves so venerable in the 
eyes of the vulgar ; and therefore their plots were levelled against his 
reputation and life. 

Jesus, to avoid their malice, retired to the very borders of Pales- 
tine, to the coasts of those two celebrated Gentile cities, Tyre and 
Sidon,* purposing there to conceal himself for a time : but he could 
not be hid. It was as impossible for the " Son of righteousness " to 
be concealed wherever he came, with his healing wings and message 
of peace, as it is for the sun in the firmament, when he riseth in all 
his glory, " as a bridegroom cometh out of his chamber, and as a 
giant rejoicing to run his course." For a certain woman of Canaan, 
having heard of him, determined to implore his assistance. She was, 
indeed, one of the most abject sort of Gentiles, a Canaanite, one of 
that detested race with which the Jews would have no dealing, nor 
even conversation; but notwithstanding all these discouraging cir- 

* Tyre and Sidon were the chief cities of Phoenicia, and were extensively en- 
gaged in commerce. They were amongst the most magnificent cities of the East, 
Tmt were steeped in idolatry and sensuality. The country to which they belonged 
was very powerful, and the cities were all bound by a confederation. Sidon is 
said to have been founded by Zidon, the first-born son of Canaan. Tyre is of 
more modern origin, but is mentioned in the book of Joshua. Hiram, King of 
Tyre, made a number of magnificent presents to Solomon at the building of the 
temple, and a friendship thus sprung up between the Jews and the Tyrians, which 
lasted long after the revolt of the ten tribes. Tyre and Sidon were both captured 
by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Bab}don, the former after a siege of thirteen years' 
duration. The "strong city'' was utterly demolished; but it afterwards rose 
from its ruins, and became a great city. Alexander the Great took it after a siege 
of seven months, and burned it ; but it again sprung up, and under the Greeks 
and Eomans became a great city. Both cities were in the height of theh 
glory in the days of our Lord. Both were taken by the Christians in the Criu 
sades, having passed into the hands of the Turks, in 1633 — '38, when the Caliph 
Omar conquered Palestine. After the taking of Acre, in 1291, by the Sultan of 
Egypt, the Christian inhabitants of Tyre abandoned the city, and fled in then 
ships. Tyre was occupied by the conquerors, and since then has declined. 
During the present century, however, it has shown some signs of reviving. 
Sidon still retains a little of its ancient commerce ; but has declined almost in pro* 
portion with the growth of Beyroot. 



156 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



cumstances, she threw herself, as an humble petitioner, on the never- 
failing mercies of the Son of God. Strong necessity urged her on ; 
and insuperable distress caused her to be importunate. Alas! 
unhappy parent ! her only daughter, her beloved child, had an un- 
clean spirit — " was grievously vexed with a devil." 

When her case was so urgent, and her woes so poignant, who can 
wonder that she was so importunate, and would take no refusal from 
this divine person, whom she knew was able to deliver her ! Ac- 
cordingly, she came, she fell at his feet, she besought him, she cried, 
saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David," have 
mercy! I plead no merits; as a worthless, suffering wretch, I 
entreat only the bowels of thy mercy ; I entreat it, fer I believe thee 
to be the Son of David, the promised Messiah, the mueh-desired 
Saviour of the world; have mercy on me, for the case of my child 
and her distresses are my own ; " My daughter is grievously vexed 
with a devil." Matt. x\\ 22. 

Is it not, at the first view, astonishing that such a petitioner should 
be apparently rejected; and that by a bountiful and merciful Re* 
deemer, who kindly invited all that were heavy laden to come to 
him; avIio promised never to cast out any that would come, and 
whose business it was " to go about doing good ? " 

We, however, find he answered this woman not a word : he did 
not, in appearance, take the least notice either of her or her distress ! 
But this silence did not intimidate her: she still cried, she still be- 
sought, she still importunately pressed her petition ; so that the very 
disciples were moved with her cries, and became her advocates. 
They, themselves, though Jews, besought their Master to dismiss this 
petitioner — to grant her request, and to send her away. 

But Jesus soon silenced them, by an answer agreeable to their own 
prejudices : " I am not sent," said he, " but unto the lost sheep of the 
house of Israel." To this the disciples readily assented ; and, as they 
had an high opinion of the Jews' prerogative, w T ere so well satisfied 
with the answer, that we hear them pleading no more for this lost, 
this miserable Gentile. 

But this soothed not her griefs ; it was her own cause, and what is 
immediately our own concern, animates us to the most zealous appli- 
cation. Somewhat encouraged that she was the subject of discourse 
between our Lord and his disciples, she ventured to approach the 
Saviour of the world, though she well knew that the custom actually 
forbade such an intercourse ; yet she came, she worshipped this " Son 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST: 



157 



of David," she confessed again liis divinity, and prayed, saying, 
1f Lord, help me." 

The compassionate Saviour now condescended to speak to her, but 
with words seemingly sufficient to have discouraged every farther at- 
tempt; nay, to have filled her with bitter dislike to his person, though 
she had conceived such high and noble notions of his mercy and fa- 
vor: "It is not meet," said he, " to take the children's bread, and to 
cast it to dogs." Matt. xv. 26. It is not justice to deprive the Jews, 
who are the children of the covenant, the descendants of Abraham, of 
any part of those blessings which I came into the world to bestow, 
especially to you, who are aliens and strangers from the common- 
wealth of Israel. 

This answer, however severe, could not shake her humility, nor 
overcome her patience ; she meekly answered, " Truth, Lord ; yet the 
dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their Master's* table." Matt, 
xv. 27. Let me enjoy that kindness, which the dogs of any family 
are not denied; from the plenty of miraculous cures which thou be- 
stowest on the Jews, drop this one to me, who am a poor, distressed 
heathen ; for they will suffer no greater loss by it than the children of 
a family do by the crumbs which are cast to the dogs. 

Our Lord having put the woman's faith to a very severe trial, and 
well knowing that she possessed a just notion of his power and good- 
ness, as well as of her own un worthiness, wrought with pleasure the 
cure she solicited in behalf of her daughter; and, at the same time, 
gave her faith the praise it so justly deserved. "O, woman ! great is 
thy faith ; be it unto thee even as thou wilt : and her daughter was 
made whole from that very hour." Matt. xv. 28. 

After performing this miracle, Jesus returned to the sea of Galilee, 
through the region of Decapolis.* In this country, a man was 
brought to him who was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech. 
Objects in distress were always treated with benevolence by the holy 
Jesus; but as the people now thronged about him, in expectation that 
he would soon establish his kingdom, he thought proper to take the 

* Decapolis is the name applied to a large district, extending on both sides of the 
Jordan. It contained ten noted cities, which are enumerated as follows, b} r Pliny : 
Scythopolis, Hippos, Gadara, Pella, Philadelphia, Gerasa, Dion, Canatha, Damas- 
cus, and Raphana, Josephns, however, does not include Damascus in the ten; 
for he speaks of Scythopolis as the largest city of Decapolis. All these cities, with 
the exception of the one last named, lay east of the Jordan. This region was 
densely populated during the time of our Saviour, and multitudes flocked here to 
.listen to and see hira. Now, it has scarcely an inhabitant. 



158 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



man, with his relations, aside from the multitude ; after which he put 
his fingers in his ears, and touched his tongue, that the deaf man, who 
could not be instructed by language, might know from whence all his 
benefits flowed. He then " looked up to heaven, aud sighed, and said 
unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were 
opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. 
And he charged them that they should tell no man." Mark vii. 34-36. 

We cannot fail to be impressed with the fact that the spirit of 
Christ was that of humility, and his manner was far removed from 
that parade and ostentation which mark the world's ambitious heroes^ 
If ordinary men perform a great feat, if some renowned achievement 
is born of their genius or valor, they are willing the trumpet should 
be blown, and their praises sounded. They are not apt to dash aside 
the wreath held out to deck their brows, and refuse the honors whicb 
applauding multitudes are eager to confer. 

But notwithstanding they were enjoined to secrecy, the man, or his 
relations, published it in every part of the country, doubtless thinking 
they could not be too lavish in the praises of so great a benefactor 
especially as the modesty with which he had performed the cure 
abundantly demonstrated that his sole view was the benefit of the- 
human race. 

This rumor gathered the multitude round him in Decapolis; for the 
fame of his miracles was extended to every corner of the country; 
he, therefore, to avoid these prodigious crowds of people, retired to a- 
desert mountain, near the sea of Galilee. But the solitary retreats 
of the wilderness were unable to conceal tliis beneficent Saviour of 
the human race. They soon discovered his retreat, and brought him 
from all quarters the sick, the lame, the dumb, the blind, and the 
maimed. The sight of so many objects in distress so excited the com- 
passion of the Son of God, that he graciously released them from all 
their complaints. Miracles like these could not fail of astonishing the 
spectators, especially those performed upon the dumb; for it must be 
remembered, that he not only conferred on these the faculty of hearing 
and pronouncing articulate sounds, but conveyed at once into their 
minds the whole language of their country; they were instantly ac- 
quainted with all the words it contained, their significations, their forms, 
their powers, and their uses ; at the same time they enjoyed the habit 
of speaking it both fluently and copiously. This was surely enough 
to demonstrate to the most stupid that such works could have been' 
effected by nothing less than infinite power. " The multitude wondereds 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame 
to walk, and the blind to see ; and they glorified the God of Israel." 
Matt, xv. 31. 

The various works performed by the blessed Redeemer detained the 
multitude in the desert with him three days, during which time they 
consumed all the provisions they had brought into this solitary place. 
But Jesus would not send them away lasting, lest any who had fol- 
lowed him so far from their habitations, should faint in their return. 
Accordingly, he again exerted his Almighty power to feed the multi- 
tude a second tinie in the wilderness. 

After feeding the multitude miraculously, Jesus retired into a dis- 
trict called Dalmanutha, a part of the territory of Magdala.* Here 
he was visited by the Pharisees, who, having heard that he had a sec- 
ond time fed the multitude miraculously, were fearful that the common 
people would acknowledge him for the Messiah ; and, therefore, deter- 
mined openly and publicly to confute his pretensions to that character. . 

In order to do this, they boldly demanded of him a sign from 
heaven ; for it must be remembered that the Jews expected the Mes- 
siah would make his first public appearance in the clouds of heaven, . 
and in a glorious manner establish a temporal kingdom. This 
opinion was founded on the following prophecy of Daniel, which they 
understood literally : " I saw in the night visions, and behold, one 
like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the 
Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there 
was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, 
nations, and languages should serve him : his dominion is an ever- 
lasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that 
which shall not be destroyed." Dan. vii. 13, 14. 

It is, therefore, evident that the Pharisees, by desiring him to show 
them a sign from heaven, meant that he should demonstrate himself 
to be the Messiah, by coming in a visible and miraculous manner from 
heaven, and wresting, with great pomp, the sceptre of David from the 
hands of the Romans. 

If the minds of the Pharisees had been open to conviction, the proofs 
which Jesus was daily giving them would have been more than suffi- 
cient to establish the truth of his mission, and demonstrate that he was 
the long-expected Messiah. But they were not desirous of being con- 

* Magdala was a city of some importance on the west side of the Sea of Galilee^ 
about equi-distant from Tiberias and Capernaum. It was the home of Mary Mag- 
dalene. 



160 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



vinced ; and to that alone, and not to want of evidence, or capacity in 
themselves, it was owing, that they refused to acknowledge our Sa- 
viour to be the person foretold by the prophets. Their disposition 
was absolutely incorrigible ; so that Jesus sighed deeply in his spirit, 
and declared that the sign they sought should never be given them • 
and that the only sign they were to expect was that of the prophet 
Jonas, or the miracle of his own resurrection: a sign, indeed, much 
greater than any shown by the ancient prophets ; and consequently a 
sign which demonstrated that Jesus was far superior to them all. " A 
wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no 
sign be given unto it but the sign of the prophet Jonas." Matt. xvi. 4. 

Having thus reproved the impertinent curiosity of the Pharisees, he 
departed with his disciples, and entered into a ship: and as they 
sailed, he cautioned them to beware of the doctrine of the Pharisees 
and Sadducees, which he termed leaven, from its pernicious influence 
in filling the minds of men with pride, and other irregular passions, 
these hypocrites chiefly insisting on the observation of frivolous tra- 
ditions, but neglecting the true principles of piety, and hence filling 
the minds of their disciples with an high opinion of their own sanc- 
tity. But the diociples, having forgotten to take bread with them, 
understood that he intended to caution them against procuring it from 
the Heathen, or Samaritans. They were so weak as not to think 
that their Master, who had fed some thousands of people with five 
loaves, was also capable of providing for them in their necessities. 

On his landing at Bothsaida, they brought unto him a blind man, 
desiring that he would heal him : Jesus accordingly took the man by 
the hand, and led him out of the city, and having spat upon his eyes, 
and put his hands upon him, asked him if he saw aught. To which 
the man answered, "I see men as trees walking;" a very proper ex- 
pression to convey an idea of the indistinctness of his vision. ' Jesus 
then put his hands again upon him, and he was restored to sight, 
" and saw every man clearly." It should be remembered, that the 
people of Bethsaida had, by their ingratitude, impenitence, and infi* 
delity, greatly displeased the Saviour of the world : and this, perhaps, 
was the reason why Jesus would not perform the cure in the city, but 
led the man out into the adjacent plain. The people had also, for a long- 
time, been solicitous, that he would take upon himself the character 
of a temporal Messiah, and therefore he chose to perform this miracle 
without the city ; to prevent their farther importunity, so incompatible 
with the modesty and lowliness of our dear Lord and Master. 



T HE LI F E OF CHRIS T. i ^1 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE BLESSED JESUS DELEGATES A SPECIAL POWER TO PETER, ONE OF THE DISCI- 
PLES — PRONOUNCES THE FINAL JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD, AND IS AFTERWARDS 
TRANSFIGURED UPON THE MOUNT. 

Jesus having displayed his power and goodness in restoring the 
blind man to his sight, the blessed Lord departed from Bethsaida, and 
retired into the territory of Caesarea Philippi ; where, being desirous 
of proving, in some measure, the faith of the apostles, he asked them, 
saying, " Whom do men say that X, the Son of man, am ?' ; In an- 
swer to this question, the disciples replied, " Some say that thou art 
John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the 
prophets." Matt. xvi. 14. The people, in general, mistook the char- 
acter of our Saviour, because he did not assume that outward pomp 
and grandeur with which they supposed the Messiah would be 
adorned. Jesus was, therefore, desirous of hearing what idea his dis- 
ciples formed of his character, as they had long enjoyed the benefit of 
his doctrine and miracles, and accordingly asked thenl what they 
themselves understood him to be. To this question Simon Peter re- 
plied, " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." 

Our Saviour acknowledged the title, telling Peter that God alone 
had revealed the secret to him. And in allusion to his surname, 
"Peter," which signifies a "Rock," our Saviour promised that he 
should have a principal hand in establishing his kingdom, and that 
the Christian church should be erected on his labors, as on a solid 
foundation, never to be destroyed, " And I say also unto thee, that 
thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church*, and the 
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee 
the keys of the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt bind 
on earth, shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loos« 
on earth, shall be loosed in heaven." Matt. xvi. 18, 19. 

Having delegated this power to Peter, our Saviour strictly forbade 
his disciples to tell any man that he was the Messiah ; because it had 
been foretold by the prophets that he should be rejected by the rulers 
of Israel as a false Christ, and suffer the pains of death. " Then 
charged he his disciples, that they should tell no man that he was 
11 



162 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



Jesus the Christ." Matt. xvi. 20. Circumstances which could net 
fail of giving his followers great offence, as they did not yet under- 
stand the true nature of his kingdom; and therefore he thought proper 
to let every man form a judgment of his mission from his doctrine and 
miracles. 

The foregoing discourses had, doubtless, filled the apostles' minds 
with lofty imaginations, and therefore our Saviour thought proper to 
acquaint them with his sufferings, in order to check any fond expecta- 
tions of temporal power. Peter, however, was greatly displeased to 
hear his Master talk of dying at Jerusalem, when he had just before 
accepted ;f the title of Messiah. Accordingly, he rebuked him for 
the expression, which he was so bold as to think unguarded. But 
Jesus, turning himself about, said to Peter, " Get thee behind me, 
Satan, thou art an offence unto me ; for thou savorest not the things 
that be of God, but those that be of men." Matt. xvi. 23. 

Peter's conduct in this respect arose from an immoderate attach- 
ment to sensual objects. Our Saviour thought prope*' to declare pub- 
licly, that all who intended to share with him in the glory of the 
heavenly Canaan, must deny themselves : that is, they must be always 
ready to renounce every worldly pleasure, and even life itself, when 
the cause of religion required it : he also told them, that in this life 
they must expect to meet with troubles and disappointments ; and that 
whoever intended to be his disciple, " must take up his cross daily, 
and follow him." 

Thus did the blessed Jesus fully explain to his disciples the true 
nature of the kingdom ; and, at the same time, intimated, that though 
they had already undergone many afflictions, yet they must expect 
still more and greater, which they must sustain with equal fortitude, 
following their Master in the footsteps of his afflictions. This duty, 
however hard, was absolutely necessary, because by losing their tem- 
poral life, they would gain that which was eternal ; " For whosoever 
will save his life, shall lose it : but whosoever will lose his life for my 
sake, the same shall save it." Luke ix. 24. " For what is a man 
profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? 
or what shall a man give in exchange for Ws soul?" Matt, 
xvi. 26. 

To add to the weight of this argument, and to enforce the necessity 
of self-denial, our Saviour particularly declared, that a day was fixed 
for distributing rewards and punishments to all the human race; and 
that he himself was appointed, by the Father, as universal judge ; so 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



163 



that his enemies could not flatter themselves with the hope of escaping 
the punishments they deserved, nor his friends be afraid of losing 
their eternal reward. " Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of 
me and my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him \ \ 
also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory j 
of his Father, with the holy angels." Mark viii. 38. 

As this doctrine, of Christ being appointed the universal judge, 4 
might appear incredible at that time, on account of his humiliation, i 
he told them, that some who heard him speak should not taste of 
death till they saw him coming in his kingdom. " Verily I say 
unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death 
till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." Matt. xvi. 
28. There are some here present that shall not die till they see a 
faint representation of the glory in which I shall come at the last 
day, and an eminent example of my power inflicted on the men of 
this sinful generation. 

To verify which prediction the disciples lived to see their Master 
coming in his kingdom, when they were witnesses of his transfigura- 
tion, resurrection, and ascension, and had the miraculous gifts of the 
Holy Spirit conferred upon them — lived to see Jerusalem with the 
Jewish state destroyed, and the gospel propagated through the great- 
est part of the then known world. About eight days after this 
discourse, our blessed Saviour being with the multitude in the country 
of Caesarea Philippi, he left them in the plain, and, accompanied by 
Peter, James, and John, ascended an exceedingly high mountain.* 
In this solitude, while Jesus was praying with these three disciples, 
he was transfigured; his face became radiant and dazzling, for it 
shone like the sun in his meridian clearness. At the same time his 
garment acquired a snowy whiteness, far beyond anything human art 
could produce — a whiteness bright as the light, and sweetly refulgent, 

* It was formerly believed that Mount Tabor was the scene of the Transfigu- 
ration ; but as that mountain must have been too thickly inhabited to admit of the 
privacy of this great event, it is the general opinion of the most reliable writers, 
that it was Mount Hermon, the grandest of all the hills of the Holy Land, that 
witnessed the glorious Light. It is said to be 10,000 feet high, and is a promi- 
nent land-mark in Palestine. In the summer, when the plains below are parched 
with the heat, the crest of Hermon is capped with glittering snow. The moun- 
tain has three summits, "situated like the angles of a triangle, a quarter of a 
mile from each other." It stands at the southern end, and is the highest point 
of the A.nti-Libanus range. At its feet are the fountains of the Jordan, and the 
ancient border city of Dan. The view from it is magnificent, and includes a. 
large part of the Holy Land. 




104 



THE FINAL CALL OF PETER. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



10> 



but in a degree inferior to the radiance of his countenance. Thus, as 
it were, for an instant, the Son of God, during his state of humiliation, 
suffered the glory of his divinity to shine through the veil of human 
nature, with which it was covered ; and to heighten the grandeur and 
solemnity of the scene, Moses, the great lawgiver of Israel, and Elijah, 
a zealous defender of the laws, appeared in the beauties of immor- 
tality, the robes in which the inhabitants of the heavenly Canaan are 
adorned. The disciples, it seems, did not see the beginning of this 
transfiguration; happening to fall asleep at the time of prayer, they 
lost that pleasure, together with a great part of the conversation which 
these two prophets held with the only begotten Son of God. They, 
however, understood that the subject was his meritorious sufferings 
and death, by which he was to redeem the world ; a subject that had, 
a few days before, given great offence to his disciples, particularly to 
Peter. At beholding this illustrious sight, the disciples were greatly 
amazed; but the forwardness of Peter's disposition prompting him to 
say something, he uttered he knew not what: " Master/' said he, " it 
is good for us to be here : and let us make three tabernacles ; one for 
thee, and one for Moses, and one for Eli as." 

This disciple imagined that Jesus had now assumed his proper 
dignity; that Elias was come according to Malachi's prediction, and! 
the Messiah's kingdom was at length begun. 

Accordingly, he thought it was necessary to provide some accom- 
modation for his Master and his august assistants, intending, perhaps,, 
to bring the rest of the disci ples y with the multitude, from the plain; 
below, to behold his matchless glory. 

This, he thought, was much better for his Master than to be put 
to death at Jerusalem, concerning which Jesus had been talking with; 
the messengers from heaven, and the design of which Peter could not 
comprehend. But, u while he yet spake, behold a bright cloud over- 
shadowed thein, and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This 
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased : hear ye him." When 
the three disciples heard the voice, which, like the roaring thunder,, 
burst from the cloud, and was such as mortals were unaccustomed to 
hear, they fell on their faces, and continued in that posture till Jesus 
approached, who raised them up, and dispelled their fears, saying 
unto them, " Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up- 
their eyes, they saw no ma»n, save Jesus only." 



166 THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

OUR SAVIOUR RELIEVES A YOUTH TORTURED WITH A DUMB SPIRIT — CONFORMS 
CHEERFULLY TO THE CUSTOM OF THE COUNTRY RY PAYING THE TRIBUTE — 
REPROVES THE PRIDE OF HIS DISCIPLES, AND DELIVERS SOME EXCELLENT 
MORAL PRECEPTS. 

When our Lord approached the descent of the mountain, accom- 
panied by his three disciples, he saw a great multitude surrounding 
the nine who continued in the plain, and the Scribes disputing with 
them. 

The people, seeing Jesus coming down from the mountain, ran to 
him, and saluted him with particular reverence. After which Jesus 
asked the Scribes what was the subject of their debate with his dis- 
ciples. To which one of the multitude answered, " Master, I have 
brought unto thee my son, who hath a dumb spirit: and wheresoever 
he taketh him he teareth him ; and he foameth and gnash eth with his 
teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should 
cast him out, and they could not." Mark ix. 17, 18. 

This answer being made by one of the multitude, and not by the 
Scribes, to whom the question was directed/ indicates that they had 
been disputing with the disciples on their not being able to cure this 
afflicted youth. Perhaps their making this unsuccessful attempt had 
given the Scribes occasion to boast, that a devil was at length found, 
which neither they nor their Master were able to conquer. This 
seems to be indicated by the manner in which our Saviour addressed 
himself to these arrogant rulers. " Oh, faithless generation," says 
he, "how long shall I be with you ? How long shall I suffer you?" 
Will no miracles ever be able to convince you ? Must I always bear 
with your infidelity? You have surely seen sufficient demonstrations 
of my power, notwithstanding ye still discover the most criminal in- 
fidelity. After speaking in this manner to the Scribes, he turned 
himself to the father of the young man, and said, " Bring thy son 
hither." But no sooner was he brought in sight of his deliverer, 
than the evil spirit attacked him, as it were, with double fury: "the 
spirit tare him, and he fell on the ground, and wallowed, foaming." 
Mark ix. 20. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



167 



Jesus could easily have prevented this attack ; but he permitted it, 
that the minds of the spectators might be impressed with a more lively 
idea of this youth's distress. And for the same reason, probably, it 
was that he asked the father how long he had been in this deplorable 
condition: to which the afflicted parent answered, " Of a child. And 
ofttimes it hath cast him into the lire, and into the waters, to destroy 
him : but if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help 
us." Mark ix. 21, 22. 

The inability of our Lord's disciples to cast out this spirit, had 
greatly discouraged the afflicted father ; and the exquisite torture of 
his son, and the remembrance of its long continuance, so dispirited 
him, that he began to fear this possession was even too great for the 
power of Jesus himself, as the Scribes had, probably, before affirmed, 
and therefore could not help expressing his doubts and fears. But 
Jesus, to make him sensible of his mistake, said to him, "If thou 
canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." On 
which the father cried out, with tears, " Lord, I believe, help thou 
mine unbelief/' The vehement manner in which he spake causing 
the crowd to gather from every quarter, Jesus " rebuked the foul 
spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee 
come out of him, and enter no more into him." Mark ix. 25. 

No sooner was the powerful order pronounced, than the spirit, with 
a hideous howling, and convulsing the suffering patient in the most 
deplorable manner, came out, leaving the youth senseless and without 
motion ; till Jesus, taking him by the hand, restored him to life, and 
delivered him, perfectly recovered, to his father. 

The nine disciples, during the whole transaction, remained silent. 
They were, doubtless, mortified to think that they had lost, by some 
fault of their own, the power of working miracles, lately conferred 
upon them by their Master, and for this reason were afraid to speak 
to him in the presence of the multitude. But, when they came into 
the house, they desired Jesus to inform them why they failed in their 
attempt to heal that remarkable youth. To which Jesus answered, 
" Because of your unbelief." But, to encourage them, he described 
the efficacy of the faith of miracles. "If ye have faith, as a grain 
of mustard-seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to 
yonder place, and it shall remove ; and nothing shall be impossible 
unto you." Matt. xvii. 20. Nothing shall be too great for you to 
accomplish, when the glory of God and the good of the church are 
concerned, provided you have a proper degree of faith ; even yonder 



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mountain, which bids defiance to the storm, and smiles at the attacks 
of its mingled horrors, shall, at your command, leave its firm basis, 
and remove to another place. 

The expulsion of the dumb spirit seems to have astonished the 
disciples more than any other miracle they had seen their Master 
perform; so that our Saviour found it necessary to moderate their 
high admiration of his works, by again predicting his own death, 
and retiring for a time into the unfrequented parts of Galilee. 

After a short tour, through the desert part of Galilee, Jesus re, 
turned into Capernaum, the place of his general residence. Soon after 
his arrival, the tax-gatherers came to Peter, and asked him whether 
his Master would pay the tribute. That disciple, it seems, had prom- 
ised that Jesus. would satisfy their demand; but, on a more mature 
consideration, feared to ask him concerning his paying taxes on any 
pretence whatever. Jesus was, however, no stranger to what had 
happened, and the fear of Peter to ask him ; and therefore turned his 
discourse to this subject, by saying unto him, " What thinkest thou, 
Simon ? Of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute ? 
Of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of 
strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free;" in- 
sinuating, that as he was himself the Son of the great King, to whom 
heaven, earth, and the sea belong, he had no right to pay tribute to 
any monarch whatever, because he held nothing by a derived right. 
Or, if we suppose this contribution was made for the service and 
reparation of the temple, he meant, that as he was himself the Son of 
that Omnipotent being, to whom the tribute was paid, he could justly 
have excused himself. But the blessed Jesus was always careful not 
to give offence, and therefore sent Peter to the lake, with a line and 
a hook, telling him, that in the mouth of the first fish that came up 
he should find a piece of money equal to the sum demanded of them 
both. "Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the 
sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up ; and 
w r hen thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money : 
that take, and give unto them, for me and thee/' Matt. xvii. 27. 

Our Lord took this extraordinary method of paying the tribute money 
in this manner, because the miracle was of such a kind as could not 
fail to demonstrate that he was the Son of the great Monarch wor- 
shipped in the temple, and who rules the universe. In the very 
manner, therefore, of paying this tribute, he showed Peter that he was 
free from all taxes, and, at the same time, gave this useful lesson to his 



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169 



followers, that when their property is affected only in a small degree, 
it is better to recede a little from their just right than to offend their 
brethren, or disturb the state, by obstinately insisting on it. 

Notwithstanding our blessed Saviour had lately foretold his own 
sufferings and death, and though these melancholy accounts had greatly 
afflicted the minds of his disciples, yet their grief was of no long con- 
tinuance, for, within a few days, they forgot the predictions of their 
Master, and disputed with each other about the chief posts of honor 
and profit in the Messiah's kingdom. This debate was overheard by 
the blessed Jesus, though he did not mention it till after the tax- 
gatherers had retired, when he asked them what they were disputing 
about on the way. This question rendered them all silent. They 
were fearful of discovering the cause that had given rise to the debate, 
as they knew it would draw on them a reprimand from their Master. 

Jesus, perceiving that they still continued silent, sat down, and or- 
dered them all to stand round him, and attend to what he was going 
to deliver. If any man, said the Saviour of the world, is ambitious 
of being the greatest person in my kingdom, let him endeavor to ob- 
tain that dignity by preferring others in honor, and doing to them all 
the good offices in his power. " If any man desire to be first, the same 
shall be last of all, and servant of all." Mark ix. 35. 

The disciples were now convinced that it was in vain to conceal the 
subject of the debate that had happened on the way; and accordingly 
they drew near to their Master, desiring him to decide a point which 
had often given occasion to dispute. " Who," said they, "is the great- 
est in the kingdom of heaven ?" Matt, xviii, 1. Jesus, to check these 
foolish emulations in his disciples, called a little child unto him, and 
placed him in the midst, that they might consider him attentively ; 
and said unto them, " Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, 
and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of 
heaven." Matt. xvii. 3. Unless ye be regenerated by the power of 
divine grace, and brought to a due sense of the vanity of all earthly 
preferments, riches, and honors, and become meek and humbled in 
spirit, ye shall be so far from becoming the greacest in my kingdom, 
that ye shall never enter into it. But whosoever shall accept of the 
remedy provided, and receive with meekness all the divine instructions, 
however contrary to his own inclinations, and prefer others to himself, 
that man is really the greatest in my kingdom. "Whosoever, there- 
fore, shall humble himself, as this little child, the same is greatest in 
the kingdom of heaven. " Matt, xviii. 4, 



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Our Saviour, to demonstrate how truly acceptable the grace of hu- 
mility is to the Almighty, took the child in his arms, declaring that 
whoever humbled themselves like a little child, and showed kindness 
to their fellow-creatures for his sake, should have the same kindness 
showed them in the great day of account, especially if they performed 
these worthy actions in obedience to his commands. 

It seems, from circumstances, that James and John, the sons of 
Zebedee, were principally concerned in this debate, for we find that 
John endeavored to divert it, by telling his Master they had seen 
one casting out devils in his name, and had forbidden him, because he 
did not join himself to their company. To which Jesus replied, that 
they should not have forbidden him, since he must have entertained 
very high notions of their Master's power, and at seeing the devils 
leave the bodies of men on mentioning the name of Jesus. " Forbid 
him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, 
that can lightly speak evil of me." Mark ix. 39. 

You should, added the blessed Jesus, consider that every one that 
does not persecute us is a friend ; and that the ejection of devils in my 
name will advance my reputation and promote my interest, even 
though the exorcist and the devils themselves should design the con- 
trary. He also told his disciples, that the least degree of respect 
showed him by any one, even though it should be no more than the 
giving a cup of cold water to his thirsty disciples, was acceptable to 
him, and should not fail of meeting an adequate reward. " For who- 
soever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye 
belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward." 
Mark ix. 41. 

But, on the other hand, the least discouragement given to his disci- 
ples in the propagation of the gospel, come from what quarter it will, 
shall be punished with the greatest severity. "And whosoever shall 
offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him 
that a mill-stone w T ere hanged about his neck, and he were cast into 
the sea." Mark ix. 42. 

From this saying Jesus inferred, that it was more advantageous to 
deny ourselves the highest enjoyments of this world, and to part with 
everything, however precious, represented by a hand, a foot, or an 
eye, than by these to cause the weakest of his friends to stumble. And 
as the disciples were appointed to sow the seeds of truth and religion 
in the world, or according to the metaphor, to salt the people for an 
offering to heaven, in allusion to sacrifice being salted at the temple ; 



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171 



Jesus exhorted them to mortify themselves, that they might appear 
worthy of so high an office as that of salting mankind for the altar of 
heaven ; for as they were to be the salt of the earth, it was requisite 
that they should themselves be filled with the spiritual salt of all the 
graces, and particularly the holy salt of love and peace, that they 
might, as far as possible, be free from the rottenness of ambition, 
pride, contention, and every evil work. 

Pride is the source of numberless sins, and, therefore, the blessed 
Jesus cautioned his disciples, in the most solemn manner, to beware 
of that vice; assuring them that the meanest child is an object of the 
care of Providence ; and "that their angels do always behold the face 
of my Father, which is in heaven." Our blessed Saviour did not 
mean by this expression, that every man who practices the duties of 
religion has a particular guardian angel assigned him : but as all 
angels are sent as ministering spirits, they may truly be called his 
angels. 

To show the concern of his Almighty Father for the least of his 
reasonable creatures, and the great value he sets upon the souls of the 
human race, our Saviour told them, that he not only gave his highest 
angels charge concerning them, but had also sent his only-begotten 
Son to seek and to save that which was lost ; and would share in the 
joy which the heavenly beings are filled with on their recovery. 
" How think ye ? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them 
be gone astray, cloth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into 
the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? and if so be 
that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep 
than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not 
the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones 
should perish.' 7 Matt, xviii. 12-14. 

Having thus addressed the offending party, he turned himself 
towards his disciples, and gave them instructions with regard to the 
offended. " If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him 
his fault between thee and him alone ; if he shall hear thee, thou hast 
gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee 
one or two more, that in the mouths of two or three witnesses every 
word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell 
it unto the church ; but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be 
unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." Matt, xviii. 15-17. 
Try every measure to reclaim thy brother, and in order to this, repre- 
sent his fault to him privately. If this rebuke has the desired effect, 



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thou hast brought him back to the paths which lead to happiness : 
but, if this gentle method fail, two or more grave persons should join 
in the rebuke, that he may be convinced of the injury he has done 
thee. If he still remains obstinate, tell his offence to the church, 
whose sentence will sufficiently show that thou hast done thy duty, 
and that he alone is to blame. But if he be so hardened as not to be 
affected by the censure of the church, he is from thenceforth to be 
treated as the Pharisees treat the heathen and publicans ; namely, as 
an incorrigible sinner, whose company and conversation being conta- 
gious, ought to be shunned by all who have any love for religion. 

Our Saviour now conferred on all his disciples the special power 
which some think he had before confined to Peter. " Verily I say 
unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound in 
heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in 
heaven." Matt, xviii. 18. That is, ye have free power to excom- 
municate such offenders as will not be reclaimed by proper means, or 
to free from church censure those who were truly penitent; and such 
decree will remain valid in the court of heaven, though passed here 
below. 

But, on the other hand, if the offending brother continues impeni- 
tent, after all the method above described are tried, his guilt is bound 
the faster upon him ; because, by the precepts of the gospel, none but 
penitents can obtain pardon. 

Our blessed Saviour also added, as an encouragement to good men, 
that if they continued earnest in their endeavors to bring sinners to 
repentance, and offered up their prayer? to the Almighty for assist- 
ance, he would always grant their petitions, provided they were agree- 
able to the wise ends of his providence. " Again I say unto you, that 
if two of you shall agree on earth, as touching anything that they shall 
ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For 
where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in 
the midst of them." Matt, xviii. 19, 20. 

Peter had before heard his Master speak of the doctrine of frequent 
forgiveness, and imagined that what lie had now so strongly incul- 
cated might prove dangerous to society ; and therefore thought it his 
duty to offer his objections. "Lord," said he, "how oft shall my 
brother sin against me, and I forgive him, till seven times?" Matt, 
xviii. 21. He thought it a strange doctrine which obliged him to 
forgive offences seven times repeated ; but our blessed Saviour told 
him he was very greatly mistaken ; that he never intended to limit 



THE LIFE 0 F C H E I S T. 



forgiveness to seven times, but that it ought to be extended, even to 
seventy times seven. 

This excellent moral precept he enforced by the parable of the two 
servants, debtors to one lord ; in order to show the necessity of for- 
giving the greatest injuries, in every case where the offending party 
is sensible of his fault, and promises amendment ; because on this con- 
dition alone our heavenly Father will forgive our offences. " There- 
fore," said the blessed Jesus, " is the kingdom of heaven likened unto 
a certain king, which would take account of his servants/' God is the 
great King and Sovereign of all creatures, and all are accountable 
to him as servants to a master. He will reckon with all, and happy 
are they who live sensible of this important truth. 

When he had beiran to reckon, one servant was brought unto him 
who owed him an immense debt, " ten thousand talents," a debt much 
greater than he was able to pay. His lord, therefore, commanded 
him, agreeably to the custom of those times, to be sold for a slave, 
and his " wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be 
made." 

The servant, convinced of the justice of the sentence, and knowing 
he had nothing to hope for, but from the mercy and clemency of his 
lord, fell down in the most humble manner, and importunately be- 
sought him, saying, "Lord, have patience with me, anel I will pay 
thee all." The master, moved with compassion towards him, accepted 
of his humiliation; and to make his happiness complete, loosed him 
from the sentence inflicted, and freely forgave him the enormous debt ; 
an obligation, one would have supposed, sufficient to have melted the 
hardest heart into gratitude towards his lord, and the tenderest sym- 
pathy towards any of his brethren in distress. But, alas ! who is ac- 
quainted with the human heart ? This very servant went out from 
the presence of his compassionate lord, and found one of his fellow- 
servants who owed him an " hundred pence :" a poor, inconsiderable 
debt in comparison of what he himself owed his lord. 

But behold the inhumanity of this servant : he laid hands on the 
poor debtor, seizing him violently by the throat, and saying, " Pay 
me that thou owest." His fellow-servant fell down at his feet, even 
as he had just before done at the feet of his lord and besought him in 
the very same words he himself had so lately used, " Have patience 
with me, and I will pay thee all." Such a similarity of circumstances 
one would surely have thought must have affected his stony heart, 
brought to remembrance his own late distress, and melted his soul 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



into the like generous compassion which had flowed so sweetly from 
his lord to him. But his conduct was the very reverse ; he would 
have no patience ; he would show no pity : he went and cast the un- 
happy debtor into prison, till he should pay the debt. His fellow- 
servants, when they saw what was done, were exceedingly afflicted, 
and came and told their lord the whole transaction. Upon which he 
summoned the unmerciful servant to appear before him, and filled 
with indignation and abhorrence, said unto him, O thou wicked ser- 
vant, how perverse is thy behaviour, how ungrateful and base thy 
proceeding ; " I forgave thee all that debt," that enormous debt thou 
owedst me, " because thou desiredst me :" I was moved to clemency 
and compassion by thy entreaties and distress, and " shouldst not thou 
also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant even as I had pity on 
thee?" Shouldst not thou much rather have forgiven him, who was 
thy fellow-servant, and owed thee so small a sum, when I, thy king 
and lord, had forgiven tliee so immense a debt? 

Having thus expostulated with him, his wrath was kindled, and he 
" delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due 
unto him. So likewise," added the Son of God, " shall my heavenly 
Father do also unto you, if ye, from your hearts, forgive not one 
another your trespasses." Matt, xviii. 34, 3o. And surely this aw- 
ful threatening ought to strike the minds of fierce and implacable men 
with terror. For whatever they may think, it will certainly, in its 
full extent, be inflicted upon all who refuse to obey the dictates of di- 
vine mercy, and forgive not only their fellow-servants, but every 
brother in Christ, who through weakness or inadvertence may have 
done them an injury, either in person or property. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

OUR BLESSED LORD ATTENDS FOR THE FOURTH TIME THE CELEBRATION OF THE 
PASSOVER AT JERUSALEM —ADDRESSES THE MULTITUDE AT THE SOLEMN FEAST 
OF TABERNACLES — EXEMPTS THE WOMAN DETECTED IN ADULTERY FROM THE 
PUNISHMENT ANNEXED BY THE JEWS TO THAT CRIME — ESCAPES FROM THE 
SNARES LAID FOR HIM BY THE INVETERATE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES. 

The great Redeemer, having promoted his Father's work in 
Galilee, departed into Judea, passing through the country beyond 
Jordan, that the Jews who inhabited those distant parts might enjoy 
the unspeakable benefits of his discourses and miracles. And after 
sowing the seeds of eternal life, and publishing the glad tidings of sal- 
vation in those remote countries, repaired to Jerusalem to celebrate 
the fourth passover ; but the malignity of the Scribes and Pharisees 
was so great that he staid but a short time in the capital, and then 
returned into Galilee, while the multitude again resorted to him, 
and he again instructed them in the paths that lead to everlasting 
life. 

The feast of tabernacles now drew on, at which all the males of the 
Jewish nation, capable of travelling, repaired to Jerusalem, and dwelt 
in the tabernacles, or booths, made of the boughs of trees, in commem- 
oration of their fathers having had no other habitation, during their 
forty year sojourning in the wilderness. 

To this feast some of the kinsmen of the blessed Jesus desired he 
would accompany them, and there show himself openly to the whole 
nation of the Jews. They did not themselves believe that he was 
the great Prophet so long expected, and therefore condemned the 
method he pursued in his public ministry as altogether absurd. 

" My time," said the blessed Jesus to these unbelieving relations, 
" is not yet come : but your time is always ready. The world cannot 
hate you : but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works 
thereof are evil. Go ye up unto this feast : I go not up yet unto this 
feast, for my time is not yet full come." John vii. 6-8. As if he 
had said, it is not proper for me to go before the feast begins ; but you 
may repair to the capital whenever you please : the Jews are your 
friends, you have done nothing to displease them j but the purity of 



176 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



the doctrines I have preached to them, and the freedom with which 
I have reproved their hypocrisy, and other enormous crimes, have 
provoked their malice to the utmost height ; and, therefore, as the time 
of my sufferings is not yet come, it is not prudent for me to go so soon 
to Jerusalem. 

Times and seasons are always observed in the providence of God. 
The blossoms of June do not breathe fragrance on the air of De- 
cember; "leaves have their time to fall, and flowers to wither at the 
north wind's breath." This waiting for the clock to strike and the 
time to come, is seen through all the Biblical history. For ages the 
world looked for the promised Messiah. There is no haste in the 
movements of God; there is a divine "going " that is always calm. 
In "the fulness of time," when there was readiness and ripeness, he 
was sent forth who was to be born of a woman. 

There was also another reason why our blessed Saviour refused to 
accompany these relatives to the feast of tabernacles; the roads were 
crowded with people, and these, gathering round him, and accompany- 
ing him to Jerusalem, would doubtless have given fresh offence to 
his enemies, and have, in a great measure, prevented his miracles and 
doctrines from having the desired effect. He, therefore, chose to con- 
tinue in Galilee till the crowd were all gone up to Jerusalem, when 
he followed, as it were in secret, neither preaching nor working mir- 
acles by the way, so that no crowd attended him to the feast. 

As Jesus did not go up openly to Jerusalem, so neither did he, on 
his arrival, repair to the temple, and there preach openly to the peo- 
ple. This gave occasion to several disputes among the Jews with 
regard to his character. Some affirmed that he was a true prophet, 
and that his absenting himself from the feast could be owing only to 
accident ; while others as confidently asserted that he only deceived 
the people, and paid no regard to the institutions they had received 
from heaven. 

But about the middle of the feast Jesus appeared openly in the 
temple, and taught the people, delivering his doctrines with such 
strength of reason and elegance of expression, that his very enemies 
were astonished, knowing that he had never enjoyed the advantage 
of a learned education. "Now about the midst of the feast, Jesus 
went up into the temple and taught, and the Jews marvelled, saying, 
How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?" John vii. 
14, 15. To which the great Redeemer of mankind replied, My 
doctrine was not produced by human wisdom : the sages of the world 



T H E L i F E 0 F CHRIST. 



m 



were not my instructors: I received it from heaven, it is the doctrine 
of the Almighty, whose messenger I am. " My doctrine is not mine, 
but his that sent me." John vii. 16. Nor can he who is desirous of 
practising the doctrines I deliver, if he will lay aside his prejudices, 
and sincerely desire to be taught of God, be at a loss to know from 
whom my doctrines are derived ; because he will easily discern 
whether they are conformable to the will of man or of God. It is no 
difficulty to discover an impostor, because all his precepts will tend 
to advance his own interest and gratify his pride. Whereas all the 
doctrines delivered by a true prophet have no other end than the 
glory of God, however contrary they may prove to himself. "He 
that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory ; but he that seeketh 
his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is 
in him." John vii. 18. Our Lord was upbraided with impiety by 
some of the Jews, because he had healed on the Sabwath the impo- 
tent man, in one of the porches of Bethesda, which, they pretended, 
was a violation of the law of Moses, and consequently what no prophet 
would be guilty of. In answer to which our blessed Saviour told 
them, that however they might pretend to reverence the authority of 
Moses and his law, they made no scruple of violating the most sacred 
of his precepts: they had resolved to put him to death, directly con- 
trary to every law of God and man; and, in order to execute their 
detestable scheme, were laying plots against his life. 

The people replied, " Thou hast a devil, who goeth about to kill 
thee." To which Jesus answered, I have done a miracle of an extra- 
ordinary kind on the Sabbath day, which you think inconsistent with 
the character of a pious man, and therefore wonder how I could per- 
form it. But surely Moses gave you the law of circumcision, and 
you make no scruple of performing the ceremony on the Sabbath day, 
because it is a precept both of Moses and the -fathers. Since, there- 
fore, ye think yourselves bound to dispense with the strict observance 
of the Sabbath, in order to obey a ceremonial precept, can you .be 
angry with me, because, in order to fulfil the great end of all the 
divine law, I have cured a man who was infirm in all his members, 
and even with far less bodily labor than you perform the ceremony 
of circumcision ? Consider, therefore, the nature of the thing ; ' divest 
yourselves of your prejudices, and the superstitious opinions taught 
by your elders, and judge impartially. "Moses therefore gave unto 
you circumcision ; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers ; ) 
and ye, on the Sabbath day, circumcise a man. If a man, on the 
12 



178 



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Sabbath day, receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be 
broken, are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit 
whole on the Sabbath day? Judge not according to the appearance, 
but judge righteous judgment." John vii. 23, 24. 

Notwithstanding the strength of this argument, several of our 
blessed Saviour's inveterate enemies asked, with sarcastical surprise, 
if the boldness of Jesus and the silence of the rulers proceeded from 
their being convinced that he was the Messiah ! and, at the same time, 
to deride his pretensions to that high character, said, that they were 
acquainted both with his parents and relations ; but that no man, 
when Christ appeared, would be able to tell from whence he came, 
founding their opinion on these words of the prophet Isaiah, " Who 
shall declare his generation?" Isaiah liii. 8. To which the blessed 
Jesus answered, that their knowing his parents and relations was no 
reason against his having the prophetical character of the Messiah. 
Adding, I am not come of myself, but sent from heaven by God, who 
has uttered nothing by his servants, the prophets, concerning the 
Messiah but what is true, and will all be fulfilled in me : but ye are 
totally ignorant of his gracious perfections and gracious counsels, and 
have no inclination to obey his just commands. You are really igno- 
rant of what the prophets have delivered concerning the Messiah ; 
for, had you understood their predictions, you would have known 
that one of his. principal characters is to understand the perfections 
and will of God more fully, anel explain them to the sons of men 
more clearly, than any other messenger ever before sent from the 
Most High. And would you attentively consider the doctrines I de- 
liver, you would soon perceive this character remarkably fulfilled in 
me, and be convinced that I came from the Almighty God of Jacob. 

This observation, however powerful, and his reasons, however 
solid, were far from disarming his enemies of their malice, for some 
of them were desirous of apprehending him; but Providence would 
not suffer any to lay hands on him, because the time of his sufferings 
was not yet come. Many of the people, however, convinced by the 
powerful miracle he had lately wrought, and the unanswerable rea- 
sons he had advanced in support of his character, believed on him, 
and affirmed publicly, in the temple, that he was the Messiah. "And 
many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, 
will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done ? " 
John vii. 31. 

The Scribes and Pharisees were highly provoked at this attach- 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



no 



ment of the common people to Jesus ; and accordingly, on the last and 
great day of the feast, they met in council, and sent several officers to 
apprehend him, and bring him before them. Jesus, during these 
transactions in the council, continued in the temple, teaching the 
people. My ministry, said he to the multitude, is drawing near to 
its period, and therefore you should, during the short time it has to 
last, be very careful to improve every opportunity of hearing the 
word : vou should listen, with the greatest attention, to every dis- 
course, that your minds may be stored with the truths of the Al- 
mighty, before I return to my Father ; for, after my departure, you 
shall earnestly wish for the same opportunities of seeing me, and 
hearing my instructions, but shall never obtain them. "Yet a little 
while am I with you, and then I go unto him that s?nt mc. Ye 
shall seek me, and shall not find me : and where I am, thither ye 
cannot come." John vii. 33, 34. 

The Jews, who did not understand that our blessed Saviour al- 
luded to his own death, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand 
of the Majesty on high, whither their sins would not permit them to 
follow him, wondered at this doctrine, and imagined that he intended 
to leave Judea, and preach to their brethren dispersed among the 
Gentiles. But this supposition was not sufficient ; because, if he did 
go and preach among the Gentiles, they thought it was not impossible- 
for them to follow him thither. " Then said the Jews among them- 
selves, Whither will he go that we shall not find him ? Will he go 
unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?" 
What manner of saying is this that he said, Ye shall seek me and 
shall not find me : and where I am, thither ye cannot come?" John 
vii. 35, 36. 

While the divine teacher was thus instructing the people in the 
temple, the water from Siloam was brought in, according to the ap- 
pointment of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, part of which they 
drank, with loud acclamations, in commemoration of the mercy- 
showed to their fathers, who were relieved by a stream which miracu- 
lously flowed from a rock, and refreshed a whole nation, then ready 
to perish with thirst in a dreary and sandy waste ; and the other part 
they poured out as a drink-offering to the Almighty, accompanying 
it with their prayers, for the former or latter rain to fall in its season ; 
the whole congregation singing the following passage: "With joy 
shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." Isa. xii. 3. 

It was the custom of the blessed Jesus to deliver moral instruc- 



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tions, in allusion to many occurrences that happened ; and accordingly 
he took this opportunity of inviting, in the most affectionate manner, 
all who were desirous of knowledge or happiness, to come to him and 
drink, alluding to the ceremony they were then performing. And, to 
encourage all such as were desirous of believing in him, he promised 
them the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which he represented under the 
similitude of a river flowing out of their belly. " In the last day, 
that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man 
thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, 
as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living 
water." John vii. 37, 38. 

jDnring this discourse to the people, the officers from the council 
came to apprehend him ; but hearing that the topic he was discussing 
was a very singular one, and he seemed to deliver his discourse with 
remarkable fervor, their curiosity induced them to listen some time to 
his discourses before they laid hands on him. But the eloquent man- 
ner in which he delivered his subject appeased their rage; the 
sweetness of his pronunciation, and the plainness and perspicuity of 
his discourse, elucidated the beauties of truth, and caused them to 
shine, before the understanding, with their native lustre. Accord- 
ingly, his very enemies, who were come from the council on purpose 
to apprehend him, were astonished ; the greatness of the subject, 
made, as it were, visible by the divine speaker, filled their under- 
standings; the warmth and tenderness with which he delivered 
himself penetrated their hearts; they felt new and uncommon emo- 
tions, and being overwhelmed with the greatness of their admiration, 
were fixed in silence and astonishment; they condemned themselves 
for having undertaken the office, and soon returned to the rulers of 
Israel without performing it. 

If our Lord had pleaded for his life, before the officers of the 
council who were sent to apprehend him, the success of his eloquence, 
even in that case, had been truly wonderful ; but, in the case before 
us, it surely was superior to all praise ; for, in a discourse addressed 
to others, and even on a spiritual subject, it disarmed a band of in- 
veterate enemies, and made them his friends. 

Nor were the officers the only persons affected by this discourse, 
for many of them declared that he must be one of the old prophets ; 
and others, that he was no other than the Messiah himself. Some, 
however, led away with the common mistake, that he was born at 
Nazareth, asked, with disdain, if the Messiah was to come out of 



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Galilee ; and whetlier they would acknowledge a Galilean for the 
Messiah, when the scripture had absolutely declared that he was to 
be born in Bethlehem, the native town of his father David. " Many 
of the people, therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth, 
this is the prophet. Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, 
Shall Christ come out of Galilee ? Hath not the scripture said, that 
Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, 
where David was?" John vii. 40-42. 

Such were the dissensions on this subject, that some of his enemies, 
knowing that the officers were sent to apprehend him, threatened to 
lay hands on him ; but the Almighty would not suffer them to exe- 
cute their wicked design. " And some of them woulc 1 have taken 
him ; but no man laid hands on him." John vii. 44. 

The officers now returned to the council, and were asked, why 
they had not brought Jesus of Nazareth ; to whom the officers 
answered, "Never man.spake like this man." 

This reply enraged the council, who reviled them for presuming to 
entertain a favorable opinion of one whom they had pronounced an 
impostor. 

It is strange, said they, that you, who are not ignorant of our sen- 
timents concerning this person, should entertain a favorable idea of 
him. Have any persons of rank, or celebrated for their knowledge 
of the laws, believed on him ? Are not his followers the lower order 
of the people, who are totally ignorant of all the prophecies concern- 
ing the Messiah ? 

The officers made no answer to these railing accusations of their 
masters ; but Nicodemus, a member of the council, arraigned their 
conduct in a very poignant manner. " Does our law," says he, " con- 
demn any man before he has been heard ? " They had before con- 
demned their officers for being ignorant of the law, when it appeared 
they were themselves far more ignorant in pretending to condemn 
a person before they had proved him guilty. They were acting 
directly contrary to the fundamental principles of the law of 
equity, at the time they boasted of their profound knowledge of its 
precepts. 

Incensed at this reprimand of Nicodemus, they asked him, with an 
air of disdain and surprise, if he was also one of those mean persons 
who had joined together to support the pretences of a Galilean ; 
though the scripture had plainly said that Bethlehem was the 
place of the Messiah's nativity ; adding, that if he refused to listen 



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to them, he should soon be convinced that the great prophet men- 
tioned by Moses was not to be born in Galilee. " Art thou also 
of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet." 
John vii. 52. 

Having made this reply to Nicodemus, the council broke up, and 
Jesus, who well knew their malicious intentions, retired to the Mount 
of Olives, where he spent the night with his disciples. 

Our blessed Lord, early the following morning, returned to the 
temple, and again taught the people. The Scribes and Pharisees 
now determined to render him odious to the multitude, or obnoxious 
to the Roman governor, and therefore placed before him a woman 
that had been taken in the act of adultery, desiring his opinion what 
punishment she ought to suffer. " This woman/' said they to Jesus, 
" was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, 
commanded us, that such should be stoned, but what sayest thou?" 
John viii. 4, 5. Had our Lord disapproved the sentence of the law, 
they would doubtless have represented him to the multitude as a 
person who contradicted Moses, and favored adultery, which could 
not have failed of rendering him odious to the people. On the other 
hand, had he ordered her to be stoned, it would have afforded a 
plausible pretence for accusing him to the Roman governor, as a per- 
son who stirred up the people to rebellion, the Romans having now 
taken the power of life and death into their own hands. 

But Jesus, who well knew their malicious intentions, made them 
no answer, but "stooped down, and, with his finger, wrote on the 
ground, as though he heard them not." John viii. 6. 

They, however, still continued pressing him to give an answer; 
and at last Jesus, in allusion to the law, which ordered that the hands 
of the witnesses, by whose testimony an adulterer was convicted, should 
be first upon him, said, " He that is without sin among you, let him 
first cast a stone at her." Let those who are remarkably zealous for 
having justice executed upon others, at least take care to purify them- 
selves from all heinous crimes. 

This reply had its desired effect. The hypocritical Scribes and 
Pharisees were convicted of sin by their own consciences, so that they 
immediately retired, fearing Jesus would have made their particular 
sins public. " And they which heard it, being convicted by their 
own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even 
unto the last." John viii. 9. 

The woman's accusers being all retired, Jesus told her, that 



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k$ no man had pronounced sentence of death upon her, neither 
would he pronounce it ; hut advised her to be very careful for the 
future, to avoid the temptations which had induced her to commit so 
black a crime. 

The wisdom, knowledge, and power of our blessed Saviour were 
eminently displayed on this occasion : his wisdom in defending 
himself against the malicious attempts of his enemies; his knowledge 
in discovering the secrets of their hearts, and his power in making 
use of their own consciences to render their artful intentions abortive. 

It was, therefore, with remarkable propriety, that the great Re- 
deemer of mankind now called himself the "light of the world:" as 
if he had said, I am the spiritual sun that dispels the darkness of ig- 
norance and superstition, in which the minds of men are immersed, 
and discovers the path that leads to eternal life : nor shall any who 
follow me ever be involved in darkness. " I am the light of the 
world : he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall 
have the light of life/ 5 John viii. 12. 

This assertion of our Lord highly provoked the Pharisees, who told 
him he must be a deceiver, because he boasted of himself. To which 
the great Redeemer of mankind replied : You are not to imagine that 
I called myself the light of the world from a principle of pride and 
falsehood; that title justly belongs to me: nor would you yourselves 
refuse to acknowledge it, did you know from what authority I re- 
ceived my commission, and to whom, when I have executed it, I 
must return. But these things ye are totally ignorant of, and there- 
forejudge according to outward appearances, and condemn me because 
I do not destroy those who oppose, as you vainly think the Messiah 
will do those who shall refuse to submit to his authority. But the 
design of the Messiah's coming is very different from your mistaken 
notions ; he is not come to destroy, but to save the children of men. 
" Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true : for I know 
whence I am, and whither I go ; but ye cannot tell whence I come, 
and whither I go. Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man." 
John viii. 14, 15. He added, that if he should condemn any person 
for unbelief, the condemnation would be just, because his mission was 
true, being confirmed by his own testimony and that of his Almighty 
Father, the God of Jacob, by whose authority, and agreeable to 
whose will, all his sentences would be passed. "And yet if I judge, 
my judgment is true : for I am not alone, but I and the Father that 
Bent me." John viii. 16. 



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Having thus asserted the divinity of his mission, and shown that 
his judgment was just, he proceeded to inform them that the Father 
himself bore witness to the truth of his mission. You cannot, said 
lie, justly complain, even if I should punish you for your unbelief, 
because you are, by your own laws, commanded to believe the testi- 
mony of two witnesses, that my mission evidently is true. For 
the actions of my life, which are perfectly agreeable to the character 
of a messenger from heaven, bear sufficient witness of me ; and the 
Father, by the miracles he has enabled me to perform, beareth witness 
of me ; ye are, therefore, altogether culpable in objecting to my mis- 
sion. "It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men 
is true. I am one that beareth witness of myself, and the Father 
that sent me beareth witness of me/' John 17, 18. 

The Jews then asked him, Where is thy Father, the other witness 
to whom thou appealest? Jesus replied, Your conduct sufficiently 
demonstrates that ye are strangers both to me and my Father ; for had 
ye known who I am, ye must have also known who it is I call my 
Father : had ye been convinced that I am the Messiah, you must also 
have been convinced that the Father is no other than that Omnipotent 
Being, who created and upholds all things by the word of his power. 
" Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, 
Ye neither know me nor my Father : if ye had known me, ye should 
have known my Father also/' John viii. 19. 

This discourse, the evangelist tells us, was held in the treasury, or 
court of the temple, where the chests were placed for receiving the 
offerings of all who came up to worship in the temple; and, therefore, 
must have been a place of great resort, being frequented by all, even 
the priests and rulers. But, notwithstanding the public manner in - 
which our blessed Saviour now asserted his claim to the character of 
the Messiah, no man attempted to seize him ; Providence not suffering 
them to put their malicious designs in execution, because his " hour,''' 
or the time of his sufferings, " was not yet come." 

The debate being ended, Jesus again repeated what he had before 
told them ; namely, that he should shortly depart from them ; and 
that they should then seek him, but not be able to find him. " I go 
my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins : whither I 
go, ye cannot come." John viii. 21. As if he had said, after my 
ascension into heaven, when the Homan armies shall spread horror 
and desolation in every corner of the land, ye shall then earnestly wish 
for the coming of the Messiah, in expectation of being delivered by his 



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185 



powerful arm from your cruel enemy; but ye shall then find your 
mistake; you shall die in your sins, and be forever excluded from the 
mansions of happiness. 

The Jews by no means comprehended this departure of which our 
Lord told them. They even fancied he would destroy himself, be- 
cause they thought the only retreat where they could not find him was 
the gloomy habitation of the grave. To which the blessed Jesus re- 
plied, Your vile insinuation discovers at once the wickedness of your 
own hearts, and the baseness of your original. Ye are from the earth, 
and therefore subject to all the evil passions that infest human na- 
ture; and from the dictates of your own hearts, you fancy that I can 
be capable of committing the horrid crime of self-murder. But my 
extraction is very different : it is from heaven, and consequently my 
mind is not tainted with the corruption of human nature, the source 
of temptation to every sin. Yon, therefore, must believe that I am 
the " bread of life," the heavenly manna, the light of the world, the 
true Messiah, if you are desirous of being cleansed from these pollu- 
tions whieh flow from your earthly origin; but if you still continue in 
your unbelief " you shall die in your sins." 

The Jews now, in order to vindicate themselves, demanded what 
sort of person he pretended to be. To which Jesus answered, " Even 
the same that I said unto you from the beginning," that is, at the be- 
ginning of his discourse, " the light of the world." Adding, " I have 
many things to say and to judge of you : but he that sent me is true; 
and I speak to the world those things whieh I have heard of him.'' 
John viii. 26. 

This discourse, however plain it may appear, was not understood 
by the perverse Jews ; they did not perceive " that he spoke to them 
of the Father." But Jesus told them, that when they had crucified 
him, they would be convinced, by the miracles accompanying that 
awful hour, the resurrection from the dead, the effusion of the Holy 
Spirit on his disciples, and the destruction of the Jewish nation, who 
he was, and the Father that sent him. "When ye have lifted up the 
Son of man, then ye shall know that I am he, and that I do nothing 
of myself ; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things." 
John viii. 28. 

He added, that though he should be crucified as a malefactor, that 
punishment would not be inflicted on him as a consequence of his be- 
ing deserted by his Father : because he would never leave him in any 



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period of his sufferings, or even at the hour of his death, as he had al- 
ways acted agreeably to his will. 

These words induced many of the people to believe him to be the 
Messiah. Perhaps by " lifting him up " they did not understand his 
crucifixion, but his ascension to the throne of David ; and hence sup- 
posed that he now entertained sentiments worthy of the Messiah, and 
were, therefore, very ready to acknowledge him as such; and believe 
the doctrine he had delivered, concerning his mission. But Jesus told 
them, that if they persevered in the belief and practice of his word, 
they should in reality become his disciples, have a title to that honor- 
able appellation, be fully instructed in every doctrine of the gospel, 
and not only freed from the slavery of sin and its consequences, but 
also from the ceremonial laws delivered by Moses. " If ye con- 
tinue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed : and ye shall 
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John viii. 
31, 32. 

The Jews, on hearing him mention that they should be made free, 
answered, " We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any 
man." This assertion, if taJven literally, was absolutely false; the 
whole nation at that very time being in bondage to the Romans : nor 
were their ancestors any strangers to slavery, having severely felt the 
hand of tyranny, both in Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon. The expres- 
sion, therefore, according to some writers, must be taken in a meta- 
phorical sense, to signify spiritual bondage; it was a freedom by truth, 
a freedom in respect of religion which they now asserted. 

They meant that they were the descendants of illustrious ancestors; 
and during the worst of times, had preserved sentiments in religion 
and government worthy the posterity of Abraham ; nor had the hottest 
persecution of the Assyrian kings been able to compel them to embrace 
the religion of the heathen. In respect of truth, " we were never in 
bondage to any man: how say est thou, Ye shall be made free?" 

In answer to this question, Jesus told them that those who gave 
themselves up to the practice of sin and the gratification of their sinful 
appetites, were absolutely slaves, and how far they might deserve that 
appellation, it was incumbent on them to consider. " Verily, verily, 
I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." And 
as a slave cannot be assured of the continuance of his master's favor, 
or certain of abiding continually in the family ; so my Father can, 
Avhen he pleases, discard such habitual sinners, deprive you of the ex- 
ternal economy of religion, in which you so highly boast. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



But Jesus told them that an outward profession of the true religion 
was of no consequence. They must " love it in deed and in truth," 
if they hoped to be in reality the children of God; and if they truly 
ioved religion, they must love him who came down from heaven on 
purpose to reveal it to the sons of men. Adding, that he did not come 
of himself, but was sent by the great Creator of the universe. " If 
God were your Father, ye would Jove me ; for I proceeded forth and 
came from God : neither came I of myself, but he sent nie*' John 
viii. 42. 

But ye, continued the blessed Jesus, inherit the nature of your 
father, the devil, and therefore will continue to gratify the lusts ye 
have derived from him. He was an enemy to, and a murderer of, 
mankind from the beginning, and has ever since exerted his whole 
power to work their destruction ; sometimes by seducing them into 
sin by his falsities, and sometimes by instigating them to kill those 
whom God thought proper to send to reclaim them. And having 
early departed from holiness and truth, a custom of lying is become 
habitual to him. Being, therefore, a liar and the father of lying, 
when he speaketh a falsity he speaketh what is properly his own. 
But I tell you the truth : and, therefore, it is natural to think that ye 
will disbelieve me. "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts 
of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, 
and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When 
he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own ; for he is a liar, and the 
father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not." 
John viii. 44, 45. 

Though ye dare even to reject my doctrine, are any of you able to 
show that I have not received my commission from heaven, or that 
I have done anything that has a tendency to render me unworthy of 
belief? Can you show that I have taught false doctrines, reproved 
you unjustly for your actions, or been guilty myself of sin ? If you 
are unable to do this, but, on the contrary, must acknowledge that 
my doctrine and life are such as become a messenger of God, what 
reason can ye pretend for not believing me ? "And if," in affirming 
that I am perfectly free from sin, " I say the truth, why do ye not 
believe me?" Whosoever is of God, receives, with the greatest hu- 
mility, whatever revelation God is pleased to make of himself by his 
messengers, and makes it his study and delight to obey all his command- 
ments. But ye reject the revelations and precepts of the Almighty, 
delivered by me, who came down from heaven, for no other reason 



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189 



than because ye are not the children of God. " He that is of God 
heareth God's words ; ye, therefore, hear them not, because ye are not 
of God." John viii. 47. 

The Jews, still attached to their lineal descent, replied, that his 
calling the descendants of Abraham the children of the devil, was a 
sufficient proof that he was either a very profligate wretch himself, or 
instigated by some evil spirit. But Jesus told them that he was 
neither mad, nor actuated by an evil spirit. On the contrary, he hon- 
ored his Father by speaking the words of truth, which he had sent 
him to deliver, and therefore they dishonored him in calling him by 
so opprobrious a title. Adding, that he sought not their applause, 
but referred their conduct to an omniscient and impartial judge. "And 
I seek not my own glory ; there is one that seeketh and judgeth." 
John viii. 50. 

Our Lord having declared his mighty and divine power, asserts the 
happy effects of faith and obedience to the gospel. " Verily, verily, I 
say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never see death." 
John viii. 51. On this declaration, the Jews, who were total strangers 
to our Lord's spiritual meaning of death, cried out, Now we suffi- 
ciently know that thou art possessed with a devil ; for the most right- 
eous persons that ever flourished among the sons of men are dead ; 
Abraham, and the prophets, and other holy men, are all laid in the 
chambers of the dust, and thou hast the impudence and folly to affirm, 
that whosoever keeps thy precepts shall never die. Thou surely canst 
not think nor pretend to be more in favor of the Almighty than 
Abraham and the prophets were, who, though the strictest observers 
of the divine precepts, could not obtain the privilege of being them- 
selves exempt from the stroke of death, much less for their followers. 
" Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the 
prophets ; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never 
taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is 
dead ? and the prophets are dead : whom makest thou thyself?" John 
viii. 52, 53. 

In reply to this impertinent query, the Messiah returned, If I 
should attempt to speak in praise of myself, you would call it vain 
and foolish, and, like the Pharisees, tell me, " Thou bearest record of 
thyself: thy record is not true." Instead, therefore, of giving you a 
full description of my dignity, I shall only inform you, that it is my 
Father who speaketh honorably of me, by the many miracles he en- 
ables me to perform. And surely this may be sufficient to convince you 



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of what I have promised for my disciples ; especially when I tell you 
that my Father is no other than the Almighty God of Jacob, whom 
all the descendants of Abraham pretend to worship. But though you 
vainly boast of worshipping my Father as your God, you are ignorant 
of him : you neither form just conceptions of him, nor worship him in 
the manner you ought. Your knowledge and actions, therefore, dis- 
agree with your profession ; but, on the contrary, I entertain proper 
ideas of him, and obey his precepts. You may, perhaps, construe this 
declaration as proceeding from vanity : but if I should say I do not 
form adequate conceptions of him, or acknowledge him as he deserves, 
I should be a liar like unto you. Even your father Abraham, of 
whom you so highly boast, earnestly desired to behold the time when 
I, the promised seed, should put on the veil of human nature, and 
convert all the nations of the world from their ignorance and idolatry 
to the knowledge and worship of the true God. He earnestly desired 
to see the great transactions of my life, by which this invaluable bless- 
ing was to be procured for all the sons of men, and view the happy 
state of all nations, when this blessing was bestowed upon them. 
This was granted him ; he "saw it and was glad." He was favored 
with the ravishing prospect of these happy times, then concealed in 
the womb of futurity, and was exceedingly transported with the 
scene. " Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day : and he saw 
it, and was glad." John viii. 56. 

The Jews, still blind to the spiritual meaning of our Lord's words, 
concluded he had affirmed that he was before Abraham ; and knowing 
he was not yet fifty years old, considered it as absolutely ridiculous. 
They had no conception of his divine nature, though he had so often 
told them he was the Son of God, and consequently existed with the 
Father, before this world was called from its primitive chaos. This 
gross stupidity and perverseness induced the Saviour of the world to 
assert his dignity in still plainer terms : " Verily, verily, I say unto 
yon, before Abraham was, lam." John viii. 58. 

The Jews, incensed at our Lord's prior claim to Abraham in point 
of existence, rushed on him, and attempted to stone him, but Jesus, 
by miraculously concealing himself, passed unhurt through the crowd, 
and retired out of the temple. 



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191 



CHAPTER XIX. 

OUR LORD CONTINUES TO WORK MIRACLES IN CONFIRMATION OF HIS MISSION 
AND DOCTRINE — CALLS FORTH AND SENDS OUT SEVENTY DISCIPLES — PREACHES 
TO THE PEOPLE OF JUDEA, BY WAY OF PARABLE. 

The great preacher of Israel, having defeated the cruel designs of 
the obstinate Jews, in passing on his way, saw a man who had been 
blind from his birth. The sight of so affecting an object could not 
fail to excite the compassion of the benevolent Saviour of mankind. 
Nor could the affronts and indignities he had just received from the 
Jews hinder him from "working the works of him that sent him/' 
and dispensing blessings on that rebellious and ungrateful nation. 
Accordingly, he beheld this poor blind man, not with a transient 
view, but fixed on him the eyes of pity, and presented him with the 
riches bf his adorable love. 

The disciples, observing the affectionate regard of their Master to 
this object of compassion, and probably imagining that he was going 
to extend his usual mercy to this unfortunate object, asked their Mas- 
ter, whether his blindness was occasioned by his own sin or the sin 
of his parents. They had often heard their Master say that afflictions 
were commonly the punishment of particular sins ; and had learned 
from the law of Moses, that sin was the fruitful source of evil ; and 
that the Lord punished the iniquities of the fathers upon the children. 
Their Master kindly answered, that neither his own nor the sins of his 
parents were the immediate cause of this peculiar punishment; but 
that he was born blind, " that the works of God should be made man- 
ifest in him particularly his sovereignty in bringing him blind into 
the world, his power in conferring the faculty of sight upon him, and 
his goodness in bearing witness to the doctrine by which men are to 
be saved. 

We may learn by this pertinent reply of the Saviour of the world, 
that a curious inquiry into the afflictions of other men may be safely 
avoided; and that we ought to suppose every calamity subservient to 
the glory of Omnipotence, never imputing to their personal sins what- 
ever miseries we behold in others, lest, like the disciples in the present 



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case, we assign that to sin, which owes its orign to the glory of our 
Maker. 

Having assigned the cause of this person's blindness, namely, " that 
the works of God should be made manifest in him," Jesus added, " I 
must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day : the night 
cometh, when no man can work." Intimating to his disciples and all 
the sons of men, his unwearied labor in the work of his Almighty 
Father. In this he was occupied day and night, during the time of 
his sojourning in the flesh. To this alone he directed all his thoughts 
and all his intentions. This he esteemed even as his meat and drink ; 
and for this he suffered the neglect of his ordinary food, that he might 
finish the blessed, the beneficent work of human salvation. A work, 
to accomplish which he left the courts of heaven ; and, during the ex- 
ecution of it, went about doing good. 

It was now the Sabbath day, and the blessed Jesus was going to 
perform a miracle, in which there was to be a small degree of servile 
work ; and therefore he told his disciples, that they need not be sur- 
prised to see him work miracles of that kind on the Sabbath day. 
For, though they should imagine that he might defer them till the 
day of rest was over, his time on earth was so short, that it was 
necessary for him to embrace every opportunity that offered of work- 
ing miracles. Perhaps he chose to perform this work on the Sabbath, 
because he knew the Pharisees would, for that reason, inquire into 
it with the utmost attention, and consequently render it more 
generally known. But, however this be, our blessed Saviour, 
who was now going to confer sight on one that was born blind, 
took occasion from thence to speak of himself as one appointed 
to give light also to the minds of men involved in darkness. 
" As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 

Having declared the salutary design of his Cuming into the world, 
u He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he 
anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto 
him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which is, by interpretation, 
Sent). He went his way, therefore, and washed, and came, seeing." 
John ix. 6, 7. 

This miraculous operation could not fail of producing a general 
curiosity and surprise, and induced those who had seen this blind 
man in his dark and deplorable condition, to be very particular in 
their inquiries into the means of so singular a miracle. It was doubt- 
less the subject of general conversation ; and, it is natural to think, 



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should also have proved the means of a general conversion : but, as 
too frequently happens, a perverse curiosity prevented its salutary 
effects upou their souls. Unbelief and hardness of heart led some of 
them even to doubt of the plainest fact ; a fact the most evident and 
indisputable, and plainly the work of the divinity, and others to 
persecute at once both the object and the author of it! "The 
neighbors, therefore, and they which before had seen him that 
he was blind, saill, Is not this he that sat and begged ? some said. 
This is he : others said, He is like him : but he said, I am he." 
John ix. 8, 9. 

The man, transported with gratitude and joy, perceiving his neigh- 
bors doubted of the identity of his person, proclaimed himself to be 
the very same, whom they lately saw begging in total darkness. T 
am he, thus wonderfully blest with sight by the peculiar mercy of the 
Almighty ! I am he who was blind from my birth, whom ye have 
all seen, and many relieved in my miserable distress ! I am he who 
was, even from my mother's womb, involved in pitchy darkness, but 
now enjoy the enlivening light of day ! 

So genuine an acknowledgment of the fact excited in them curiosity 
to know how this admirable effect was produced. " How were thine 
eyes opened?" to this cpiestion he readily replied, " A man that is 
called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, 
Go to the pool of Siloam and wash : and I went and washed, and I 
received sight." John ix. 11. They then asked him where the per- 
son was, who had performed so stupendous a work? to which the man 
answered, " I know not : " for Jesus had retired while the man went 
to wash his eyes in the pool of Siloam, probably to avoid the ap- 
plauses which would naturally have been given him, and which we 
see, through the whole Gospel, he generally studied to avoid. 

The neighbors, either stimulated by envy, or excited by a desire of 
having the truth of this extraordinary event searched to the bottom, 
brought the man before the council as the proper judges of this affair. 
Accordingly, he was no sooner placed before the assembly, than the 
Pharisees began to inquire of him, "how he had recovered his sight?" 
Not daunted by this awful assembly,, though terrible to a man of his 
mean circumstances, he boldly answered, " He put clay upon mine 
eyes, and I washed, and do see." John ix. 15. 

On hearing this account of the miracle, the Pharisees declared that 
the author of it must be an impostor,, because he had, by performing 
it, violated the Sabbath day. But others, more candid in their way 
13 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



of thinking, gave it as their opinion, that no deceiver could possibly 
work a miracle of that kind, because it was too great and bene- 
ficial for any evil being to have either the inclination or power to 
perform. 

The court being thus divided in their opinion with regard - to the 
character of Jesus, they asked the man himself what he thought of 
the person who had conferred on him the blessing of sight ; to which 
he boldly and plainly answered, " He is a prophet." But the Jews, 
hoping to prove the whole a cheat, started another objection, namely, 
that this person was not born blind, though all his neighbors had al- 
ready testified the truth of it. 

Accordingly, they called his parents, and asked them whether he 
was their son ; if he had been born blind ; and by what means he had 
obtained his sight. To which they answered, that he was truly their 
son, and had been born blind ; but with regard to the manner in 
which he received his sight, and the person who had conferred it on 
him, they could give no information : their son was of age, and he 
should answer for himself. " These words spake his parents, because 
they feared the Jews : for the Jews had agreed already, that if any 
man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the 
synagogue." John ix. 22. 

The Pharisees, finding all attempts, either to discredit or disprove 
the fact, useless, had recourse to their usual method of calumniating 
the author of it. They called again " the man that was born blind, 
and said unto him, give God the praise : we know that this man is a 
sinner." John ix. 24. To which the man boldly answered these 
rulers of Israel, "Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing 
I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." John ix. 25. 

This reply prevailed not with the obstinate Jews : they were desir- 
ous of confounding him with repeated questions and the art of 
sophistry, and accordingly asked him, u AVhat did he to thee? How 
opened he thine eyes ? " They had before asked these questions, but 
now proposed them a second time, in order that the man, by repeat- 
ing his account of the servile work performed at the cure, might 
become sensible that Jesus had thereby violated the Sabbath, and con- 
sequently must be an impostor. Thus the enemies of our dear Re- 
deemer would gladly have prevailed on the person who had received 
the invaluable gift of sight, to join with them in the judgment they 
passed on the great person who had wrought so stupendous a miracle. 
But their obstinacy in denying the truth appeared so criminal to him, 



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3IARY ANOINTS THE HEAD OF CHRIST IN PREPARATION 
FOR HIS BURIAL. 



that he boldly mswered, " I have told you already, and ye did not 
hear: whereforo would you hear it again? will ye also be his dis- 
ciples?" John ix. 27. 

The council were highly exasperated at this retort. " They reviled 
him, and said, Thou art his disciple? but we are Moses' disciples. 
We know that God spake unto Moses : as for this fellow, we know * 
not from whence he is." John ix. 28, 29. 

The poor man, incensed at their unbelief and hardness of heart, re- 
plied, It is very strange that you should not acknowledge the divine 
mission of a teacher who performs such astonishing miracles ; for com- 
mon sense sufficiently declares that God never assists impostors in 
working miracles ; and, accordingly, there cannot be found a single ex- 
ample since the creation of the world, of any such person opening the 
eyes of one born blind. My opinion therefore is, that if this man 
had not been sent by God, he could not work any miracle at all. 
" The man answered, and said unto them, Why, herein is a marvel- 
lous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath 
opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners ; but 
if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he hear- 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



eth. Since the world began, was it not heard that any man opened 
the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man were not of God, 
he could do nothing." John ix. 30-33. 

The honest man's arguments, though plain, were powerful, and 
founded upon truths they could not deny. They all owned that God 
heareth not sinners : they all knew that God had heard Jesus, by the 
miracle he had wrought, which was a fact proved beyond any possi- 
bility of doubt, and was such as never any man performed : it there- 
fore undeniably followed, that Jesus was not a sinner, but sent from 
God, since otherwise he could do nothing. The Pharisees were not 
ignorant that this argument was conclusive ; they felt its whole force, 
and well knew that it could not be resisted. 

Accordingly, they did not attempt to answer it, but had recourse to 
punishment and abusive language. Thou wicked, illiterate, impudent 
mortal, said they, whose understanding is still as blind as thy body 
lately was, and who wert born under the heaviest punishment of sin, 
dost thou pretend to instruct in a matter of this kind the guides of the 
people, and those who have rendered themselves eminent for their 
knowledge of the law? " Thou wast altogether born in sin, and dost 
thou teach us ?" 

After their presumptuous taunts, the evangelist adds, that they 
cast him out." That is, they passed on him the sentence of excom- 
munication, which was the highest punishment they had power to in- 
flict. But though he was cut off from the Jewish society, the 
Almighty thought proper to unite him to one, where no unjust sen- 
tences can ever be past, nor any member be ever separated during a 
joyful eternity. 

The feast of dedication now drew near. This solemnity was not 
appointed by Moses, but by that heroic reformer, Judas Maccabeus, in 
commemoration of his having cleansed the temple, and restored its 
worship, after both had been polluted by Antiochus Epiphanes. Al- 
though this feast was merely of human institution, Jesus determined 
to be present at it, even though he knew that farther attempts would 
be made against his life. 

His public ministry was, indeed, now drawing near its period ; and 
therefore the blessed Jesus would not omit any opportunity of preach- 
ing to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and of doing good to the 
children of men. 

Nor did he now, as he had formerly done, travel privately to the 



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THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



capital, but openly declared his intention of going to Jerusalem, and 
set forward on his journey with great courage and resolution. 

The road from Galilee to Jerusalem lay through Samaria, the in- 
habitants of which entertained the most inveterate hatred against all 
who worshipped in Jerusalem. Jesus being no stranger to this dispo- 
sition of the Samaritans, thought proper to send messengers before 
him, that they might, against his arrival, find reception for him in 
one of the villages. The prejudiced Samaritans, finding that the in- 
tention of his journey was to worship in the temple at Jerusalem, re- 
fused to receive either him or his disciples into their houses. 

The messengers, being thus disappointed, returned to Jesus, and 
gave him an account of all that had passed, at which James and John 
were so exceedingly incensed, that they proposed to their Master to 
call for fire from heaven, in order to destroy such inhospitable 
wretches ; alleging, in excuse for such violent proceedings, the exam- 
ple of the prophet Elijah : " Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to 
come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did ?" 
Luke ix. 54. 

Our Lord, desirous of displaying an example of humility on every 
occasion, sharply rebuked them for entertaining so unbecoming a re- 
sentment for this offence. " Ye know not," said he, " what manner 
of spirit ye are of." Ye are ignorant of the sinfulness of the dispo- 
sition ye have now expressed ; nor do ye consider the difference of 
times, persons, and dispensations. The severity exercised by Elijah, 
on the men who came from Ahab to apprehend him, was a just re- 
proof to an idolatrous king and people ; very proper for the times, and 
very agreeable to the characters, both of the prophet who gave it, and 
of the offenders to whom it was given, and, at the same time, not un- 
suitable to the Mosaic dispensations. But the gospel breathed a very 
different spirit ; and the intention of the Messiah's coming into the 
world was not to destroy, but to save the lives of the children of men. 

Ye wise of this world, who reject saving knowledge, behold here an 
instance of patience under a real and unprovoked injury, which you 
cannot parallel among all your boasted heroes of antiquity ! An in- 
stance of patience which expressed infinite sweetness of disposition, 
and should be imitated Joy all the human race, especially by those who 
call themselves the disciples of Christ. 

Being denied the reception by the inhospitable inhabitants of this Sa- 
maritan village, Jesus, attended by his disciples, directed his way 
towards another, and as they travelled, a certain man said to him, 



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109 



" Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest." But Jesus, to 
whom the secret purposes of all hearts were open, knowing he only 
desired the riches and honors of the Messiah's kingdom, thought 
proper to make him sensible of his mistake, and accordingly said to 
him, " Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests ; but the Son 
of man hath not where to lay his head." Luke ix. 58, I am so far 
from boasting of a temporal kingdom, and the power and pomp at- 
tending it, that I have not even the accommodation provided by 
nature for the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air. They 
have safe and secure retreats ; but the Son of man is destitute of an 
habitation. 

Jesus, in the course of his wandering, met with one who had form- 
erly been his disciple, and ordered him to disengage himself from all 
worldly employments, and to follow him ; but he was desirous of ex- 
cusing himself for the present, under the pretence that he was bound 
by the ties of gratitude to continue with his aged father till death, and 
he had laid his remains in the sepulchre of his ancestors. " Lord," 
said he, " suffer me first to go and bury my father." To which Jesus 
answered, " Let the dead bury their dead ; but go thou and preach the 
kingdom of God," Luke ix. 59, 60. Let those that are immersed in 
worldly affairs, follow the affairs of the world ; but those who have 
embraced the doctrines of the gospel, do everything in their power to 
spread the glad tidings of salvation in every part of the earth. 

A third person offered to follow him, provided he would give him 
the liberty to return to his house, and take leave of his family: but 
Jesus told him, that he should not suffer any domestic affairs to inter- 
fere with the care of his salvation ; that the calls of religion were too 
pressing to admit of the least delay or excuse whatever ; and that all 
who set themselves to seek the welfare of their souls, should pursue 
the work assiduously, without looking carelessly around them, as if 
they were regardless of the work they* had undertaken to perform. 
" No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit 
for the kingdom of God." Luke ix. 62. As our blessed Saviour's 
ministry was from this time till its final period to be confined to 
Judea, and the countries beyond Jordan, it was necessary that some 
harbingers should be sent into every town and village he was to visit, 
to prepare his way. Accordingly, he called his seventy disciples 
unto him, and after instructing them in the duties of their mission, 
and the particulars they were to observe in their journey, he sent 
them into different parts of the country, to those particular places 



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whither he himself intended to follow them, and preach the doctrines 
of the gospel to the inhabitants. 

Our Lord, according to his own declaration, dispatched these dis- 
ciples on the same important message as he had done the twelve 
before. The harvest was plenteous in Judea and Perea, as well as in 
Galilee, and the laborers also few; and being never more to preach in 
Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, the cities wherein he had 
usually resided, he reflected on the reception he himself had met with 
from the inhabitants of those cities. He foresaw the terrible conse- 
quences that would flow from their rejecting his doctrine, and the 
many kind offers he had made them. 

He was grieved for their obstinacy; and, in the overflowing ten- 
derness of his soul, he lamented the hardness of their hearts, "Woe," 
said he, " unto thee, Chorazin ! woe unto thee, Bethsaida ! for if the 
mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which have been 
done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth 
and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon 
at the judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art 
exalted to heaven, shall be thrust down to hell." Luke x. 13-15. 
To which our Saviour added, as some consolation to his disciples : 
"He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you 
despiseth me ; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me. w 
Luke x. 16. 

Such a token of heavenly regard could not foil of comforting the 
seventy, and alleviating their minds, when thinking of the ill usage 
they expected to meet with, during the course of their mission. They 
well knew that the preaching of Christ himself had been often 
despised, and often unsuccessful, with respect to many of his hearers ; 
and therefore they had no very great reason to expect that they should 
find a more welcome reception than their Master. 

The seventy disciples having received their instructions and the 
power of working miracles from the Messiah, departed to execute 
their important commission in the cities and villages of Judea and 
Perea. And,, after visiting the several places, publishing the glad 
tidings of salvation, and working many miracles in confirmation of 
their mission, they returned to their Master with great joy, saying, 
" Lord, even the devils are subject unto us, through thy name ! " 

From this appeal, it seems that they knew not the extent of their 
delegated power : and were pleasingly surprised to find the apostate 
spirits tremble at their command. To which their great Master re- 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



201 



plied, " I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." You will be 
no longer astonished that the devils are subject to the power I have 
given you, when I tell you that their prince is not able to stand 
before me ; and accordingly, when I first put on the veil of human 
nature, to destroy him and his works, I saw him, with the swiftness 
of the lightning's flash, fall from heaven. Adding, in order to in- 
increase their joy, and prove that he had really cast Satan down from 
the seats of heaven, that he would enlarge their power. " Behold/* 
says he, u I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions : 
and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means 
hurt you." Luke x. 19. 

Lest they should exult beyond measure in the honor thus con- 
ferred on them, which was merely temporary, our Lord adds : " Not- 
withstanding, in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you ; 
but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven." Luke 
x. 20. 

Nor could the blessed Jesus reflect on the unsearchable wisdom 
and goodness of the divine dispensations to mankind, without feeling 
extraordinary joy ; so that his beneficent heart overflowed with strains 
of gratitude. " I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, 
that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast 
revealed them unto babes : even so, Father, for so it seemed good in 
thy sight." Luke x. 2L 

When the disciples had executed their commission, Jesus left 
Samaria, and retired into Judea, and in the way was met by a certain 
lawyer, or scribe, who, being desirous of knowing whether the doc- 
trines preached by Jesus were the same with those before delivered 
by Moses, asked him what he should do to inherit eternal life. 

It is really amazing that any mortal should ask a question like 
this, with a view to tempt, not to be instructed ! This was, however, 
the case; but the blessed Jesus, though no stranger to the most secret 
thoughts of the heart, did not reply, as he had before done to the 
Pharisees, " Why tempest thou me, thou hypocrite ? " he turned the 
scribe's weapons against himself ; What, said he, is written in the 
law, of which thou professest thyself a teacher? how readest thou? 
That law will teach thee what thou must do to be saved ; and happy 
will it be for thee if thou compliest with its precepts. The scribe 
answered, It is there written, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, 
and with all thy mind ; and thy neighbor as thyself." Luke x. 27. 



202 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



Our Lord then shows the strength and spirituality of the law* 
" Thou hast answered right : this do, and thou shalt live." Perform 
these commands, and thou hast fulfilled the duties of an Israelite; 
for on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. 

Where is the man that can fulfil the law ? The lawyer who, in 
all probability, expected no such answer, being conscious of his 
defects, and consequently of the impossibility of obtaining eternal 
life on these conditions, was willing, as the sacred historian informs 
us, to justify himself; was willing to stifle the rising suggestions 
of his own conscience, and at the same time to make a show of 
his own devotion ; and, in order to this, he said to Jesus, " And 
who is my neighbor?" A question very natural to be asked by 
a bigoted Jew, whose narrow notions led him to despise all who were 
not of his own fold ; all who were not the natural descendants of his 
father Abraham. 

To remove their obstinate attachment to their own principles, 
open their hearts to a more generous and noble way of think- 
ing, and show them the only foundation of true love, and the 
extensive relation they and all mankind stand in to each other, 
our Saviour delivered the following most beautiful and instructive 
parable: 

A certain person, in his journey from Jerusalem to Jericho, had 
the misfortune to fall into the hands of robbers ; who, not content 
with taking his money, stript him of his raiment, beat him in a 
deplorable manner, and left him for dead. While he continued in 
this miserable condition, utterly incapable of assisting himself, a 
certain priest happened to travel the same road; "and when he saw 
him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when 
he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by 0:1 
the other side." So little compassion had these ministers of re- 
ligion for a brother in the most deplorable circumstances of distress, 
that they continued their journey, without offering to assist so 
miserable an object, notwithstanding their sacred characters obliged 
them to perform, on every occasion, the tender offices of charity 
and compassion. It was a brother, a descendant of Abraham, in 
distress; and therefore those hypocrites could offer no reasons 
to palliate their inhumanity. Their stony hearts could behold the 
affecting object of an unforunate Israelite, lying in the road, 
naked and cruelly wounded, without being the least affected with his 
distress. 




203 



204 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



Though these teachers of religion were hypocrites, and wholly 
destitute of grace and charity, compassion glowed in the heart of a 
Samaritan, who, coming to the spot where this helpless object lay, ran 
to him ; and though he found him to be a person of a different nation, 
and one who professed a religion opposite to his own, yet the hatred 
which had been instilled into his mind from his earliest years, and 
every objection arising from the animosity subsisting between the Jews 
and Samaritans, were immediately silenced by the tender sensations of 
pity awakened by the sight of such complicated distress; his bowels 
yearned towards the miserable object; though a Jew, he flew to him, 
and assisted him in the most tender manner. 

It was the custom in these eastern countries for travellers to carry 
their provisions with them; so that this compassionate Samaritan was 
enabled, though in the desert, to give the wounded man a little wine 
to recruit his spirits. He also bound up his wounds, pouring into 
them wine and oil, placed him on his own beast, and walked himself 
on foot to support him. In this manner he conducted him to an inn, 
took care of him during the night ; and, in the morning, when busi- 
ness called him to pursue his journey, recommended him to the care 
of the host, left what money he could spare, and desired that nothing 
might be denied him ; for whatever was expended he would repay at 
his return. 

Having finished the parable, Jesus turned himself to the lawyer, 
and asked him, " Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neigh- 
bor unto him that fell among the thieves?" The lawyer, struck with 
the truth and evidence of the case, replied, without the least hesita- 
tion, " He that showed mercy on him." Upon which Jesus replied, 
"Go, and do thou likewise." Perform all the good offices in thy 
power, extend thy kindness to every one who stands in need of thy 
assistance, whether he be an Israelite, a heathen, or a Samaritan. 
Consider every man as thy neighbor, in respect to works of charity, 
and make no inquiry with regard to his country or religion, but only 
with regard to his circumstances. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



205 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE HUMBLE JESUS BESIDES WITH MAETHA AND MART, TWO OBSCURE WOMEN OP 
BETHANY — IMPROVES A CIRCUMSTANCE WHICH OCCURRED AT THE FEAST OF 
DEDICATION — PRESCRIBES A MODE OF PRATER TO HIS DISCIPLES AND FUTUR3 
FOLLOWERS REYISITS SOME OF THE PHARISAICAL TRIBE. 

The feast of the dedication approaching, Jesus turned his course 
towards Jerusalem, and in the evening came to the house of Martha 
and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus, at Bethany. Martha was desirous 
of expressing her regard for the divine guest, by providing for him 
and his disciples the best entertainment in her power. But her sister, 
who was of a more contemplative disposition, sat quietly at the feet 
of Jesus, listening with the utmost attention to his doctrine ; for the 
great Redeemer of mankind never omitted any opportunity of de- 
claring the gracious offers of the Almighty, and his unspeakable love 
for the children of men. Martha being greatly fatigued with the 
burden of the service, complained to Jesus of the little care Mary took 
to assist her. " Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me 
to serve alone? Bid her, therefore, that she help me." Luke 
x. 40. 

But Martha's officiousness incurred our Lord's reproof, who com- 
mended Mary for her attentive application to his doctrine. " Martha, 
Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things : but one 
thing is needful : and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall 
not be taken away from her." Luke x. 41, 42. 

When J esus repaired to Jerusalem, to celebrate the feast of dedica- 
tion, he was informed that the beggar he had restored to sight at the 
feast of tabernacles, was, by the council, cast out of the synagogue. 
This information excited the pity of the Son of God, and he resolved 
to make him full amends for the injury he had suffered. It was not 
long before he met the suffering person, and said to him, " Dost thou 
believe on the Son of God ? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, 
that I might believe on him ? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast 
both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, 
Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him." John ix. 35-38. 

We have hinted, that the beggar was thoroughly convinced that 



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the person who opened his eyes was a messenger from heaven ; it is, 
therefore, no wonder that, as soon as be knew Jesus was the j>erson 
who had performed so great a work, he readily believed him to be the 
Son of God. 

Our Saviour having thus given the poor man ample proof of his 
Messiahship, directed his discourse to the people, and said unto them s 
"For judgment I am come into this world; that they which see not 
might see, and that they which see might be made blind." John ix. 
39. The meaning of our Saviour, though he alluded to the blind man, 
was spiritual. He did not intend to represent the design of his 
coming, but the effect it would have on the minds of men ; as it 
would demonstrate what character and disposition every person pos- 
sessed. 

The humble, the docile, and the honest, though they were immersed 
in the night of darkness, with regard to religion and the knowledge of 
the scriptures, should be enlightened by his coming, as the blind man 
had enjoyed the invaluable gift of sight from his hands; but those 
who were wise, learned, and enlightened in their own opinion, 
should appear in their true character, absolutely ignorant, foolish, and 
blind. 

The Pharisees, who happened to be present when he spake these 
words to the people, imagined that he intended to throw a reflection 
on their sect, which the common people, from their skill in the law, 
held in great veneration. Accordingly, they asked him, with disdain, 
" Are we blind also ?" Dost thou place us, who are teachers, and 
have taken such pains to acquire the knowledge of the Scriptures, on 
a level with the vulgar? To which Jesus answered, "If ye were 
blind, ye should have no sin ; but now ye say, We see, therefore 
your sin remaineth." If ye had not enjoyed the faculties and oppor- 
tunities of discerning the proofs of my mission, ye might have been 
considered as blind. But as ye are superior to the vulgar, in point 
of learning, and at the same time your hearts averse from acknowl- 
edging the truth, your enlightened understanding will only aggravate 
your guilt. 

Having condemned the obstinacy and prejudice of the sect, in re- 
jecting the most evident tokens of the divinity of his mission, he 
continued the reproof, by describing the characters of a true and a false 
teacher. It was our Lord's custom always to allude to objects before 
him ; and, being now in the outer-court of the temple, near the sheep, 
which were there exposed to sale for sacrifice, he compared the 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



207 



teachers among the Jews to shepherds, and the people to sheep: a 
metaphor often used by the old prophets. He considered two hinds 
of bad shepherds or teachers ; the one who ; instead of entering in by 
the door, to lead the flocks to the richest pastures, entered some other 
way, with an intention only to kill, to steal, and to destroy; the 
other, who, though they entered by the door to feed their flocks, with 
the dispositions of hirelings, yet when the wolf appeared they deserted 
the sheep, having no love for any but themselves. By the former, 
he plainly alluded to the Pharisees, who had cast the man born blind 
out of the synagogue, for no other reason than because he would not 
act contrary to the dictates of his conscience, and agree with them in 
declaring Jesus to be an impostor. But, though they had cast him 
out cf their church, Christ received him into his, which is the true 
church, the spiritual inclosure, where the sheep go in and out, and 
find pasture. 

To illustrate the allusion, it should be observed, that the sheep 
which were brought to be folded were inclosed 'in little folds, within 
the outer court of the temple, so that the shepherd himself could not 
enter till the porter had opened the door. And from this circum- 
stance the following parabolical discourse may be easily understood: 
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into 
the sheep-fold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief 
and a robber." John x. 1. Believe me, that whosoever, in any age 
of the church, assumed the office of a teacher, without a commission 
from me, was a thief and a robber : and, in the present age, he is no 
better who assumes that office without my commission, and particu- 
larly without believing on me. " But he that entereth in by the 
door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth ; and 
the sheep hear his voice : and he calleth his own sheep by name, and 
leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he 
goeth before them, and the sheep follow him : for they know his 
voice." John x. 2-4, 

The doctrine here inculcated is, that good men are obedient to the 
instructions of true and faithful teachers; and that the latter, in 
every case, show them their duty with the greatest plainness, not 
concealing it, because it may be disagreeable to their inclinations. 
On the contrary, "a stranger will they not follow, but will flee 
from him : for they know not the voice of strangers." John x. 5. 
The people of God will not hearken to impostors and false teachers, 
who neither preach nor love the truth, but flee from them, like 



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THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



sheep from the voice of a stranger ; for they can easily distinguish 
them from the messengers of God, by their fruits, their doctrines, 
and their lives. 

Thus did the great Kecfeemer of mankind, by this instructive para- 
bolical discourse, explain to the Pharisees the difference between 
true and false teachers ; but they being ignorant of his meaning, 
he added, by way of explication : " Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
I am the door of the sheep." I am not only the door, by which 
the shepherd must enter, but I am also the door of the sheep : it is 
by me that men enter into the spiritual inclosure of the true church. 
"All that ever came before me : " all those who have presumed to 
assume the character of teachers of religion, without commission from 
me, " are thieves and robbers ; but the sheep did not hear them." 
John x. 8n 

I am the door, through which alone any one can come acceptably 
unto God : " By me, if any man enter, he shall be saved ; and shall 
go in and out, and find pasture." If any man believeth on me, he 
shall become a true member of the church of God upon earth ; and 
shall, from time to time, receive such instruction as shall nourish his 
soul unto eternal life. Our blessed Saviour seems to change the 
image in the last particular, and instead of the outer court of the 
temple, where the sheep were kept, represented an inclosure where 
cattle were fed. " The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, 
and to destroy : I am come that they might have life, and that they 
might have it more abundantly." John x. 10. Ycu may easily know 
that I am neither a thief nor a robber, by considering that the inten- 
tion of such is only to steal, to kill, and to destroy the flock. They 
assume the characters of teachers, who have received their commis- 
sions from heaven, for no other reason than to promote their own 
interest at the expense of the souls of men : but I am come merely to 
give you life, and even much more abundantly than it was given un- 
der the dispensation of the law. 

Isor am I an hireling shepherd, appointed by the Owner to take 
care of the flock : I am the good Shepherd promised by the prophets ; 
the true proprietor of the sheep. This is sufficiently evident from 
my laying down my life for the safety of the flock. AVhereas 
an hireling, who proj^oses nothing but his own advantage, when 
lie sees the wolf approaching, deserts the sheep : his whole care 
is for his own safety, and therefore he will not expose himself to 
any danger on their account ; so that the wolf, without resistance, 



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209 



tears sdme to pieces, and disperses the rest. " I am the good Shep- 
herd ; the good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that 
is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, 
seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep and fleeth : and 
the w T olf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling 
fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep." John 
x. 11-13. 

And as I am the good Shepherd, and so earnest in tending them, 
so I know every particular sheep, am able to claim it, in whose pos- 
session soever it be, and know every thing relating to the sheep. I 
know the circumstances wherein they are placed, am well acquainted 
with their wants, and can judge what assistance they need. Besides, 
I love them all with the greatest sincerity, and approve of their 
obedience to me, because it is sincere, and springs from a right prin- 
ciple. For they have just notions of my dignity and character; they 
know that I am their Shepherd and Saviour sent from God ; and that 
I am able to feed them with knowledge, deliver them from sin, and 
the punishment of it, and bestow on them eternal life, and procure 
them a place in the blissful mansions of my Father's house. ° I 
am the good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. " 
John x. 14. 

And this mutual knowledge and love of each other is like that 
subsisting between me and my Father. " As the Father knoweth 
me, even so know I the Father : and I lay down my life for the 
sheep." John x. 15. 

I will give a convincing proof of the love I bear the sheep : I will 
lay down my life for them : an instance of regard that will never be 
given by an hireling. 

But I have other sheep besides those of the seed of Abraham; 
numbers of my flock are among the Gentiles. These also I must 
bring into my church, and they will cheerfully submit to my laws. 
There shall then be but one fold, and they shall know me, shall dis- 
tinguish my voice from that of a stranger, and though consisting of 
Jews and Gentiles, yet they shall have but one shepherd, to feed and 
govern them : for the middle wall of partition shall be broken down. 
" And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold : them also I 
must bring, and they shall hear my voice ; and there shall be one 
fold and one shepherd." John x. 16. And because I lay down my 
life to save the world, therefore my heavenly Father loveth me. 
But though I lay down my life, I will take it again ; for I will, in 
14 



210 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



due time, rise from the dead. I do not, however, either lay down 
my life or rise from the dead without the appointment of the Al- 
mighty. I act in both according to the divine wisdom, and agreeably 
to the will of my heavenly Father. "Therefore doth my Father 
love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. Xo 
man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power 
to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command- 
ment have I received of my Father." John x. 17, 18. 

Various were the effects produced by this discourse upon the 
minds of the Jews. Some of them cried out, that he was mad, and 
possessed with a devil, and that it was die highest folly to hear him ; 
while others, who judged more impartially of him and his doctrine, 
declared that his discourses were not those of a lunatic, nor his mira- 
cles the works of a devil ; asking those who were enemies to Jesus, 
if they imagined any devil was able to confer the faculty of sight on 
one that was born blind. " There was a division therefore again 
.among the Jews for these sayings. And many of them said, He hath 
a devil, and is mad : why hear ye him ? others said, These are not 
the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of 
the blind ?" John x. 19-21. 

Soon after, as Jesus was standing in Solomon's porch, the Jews 
came to him, desiring that he would tell them plainly whether he 
was the expected Messiah or not. But Jesus, knowing that they did 
not ask this question for information, but to gain an opportunity of 
accusing him to the Romans, as a seditious person, who endeavored 
to deceive the people, by pretending to be the great Son of David 
promised by the prophets, in order to usurp the kingdom, told them, 
that they must form a judgment of him from his actions. "I told 
.you, and ye believed not ; the works I do in my Father's name, they 
bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my 
sheep, as I said unto you." John x. 25, 26. Your unbelief is the 
effect of your attachment to this world, being unwilling to receive the 
doctrine of the kingdom of heaven; because you must then renounce 
all your fond hopes of temporal power and advantage. But, on tlr* 
contrary, those who are of a meek and humble disposition, and then 
minds free from worldly passions, easily perceive the truth of my 
doctrine and miracles, and consequently are readily disposed to be- 
come my disciples. Xor shall such persons lose their reward ; for I 
will willingly receive them, and make them partakers of eternal life 
in my Father's kingdom. And however assiduous malicious men 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 211 

• 

may be in endeavoring to hinder men from believing on me, they 
shall never be able to effect their purpose, though assisted by all the 
powers of darkness. For my heavenly Father, who hath given 
them to me, is far greater than them all ; nor is any able to contend 
with him : " My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they 
follow me : and I give unto them eternal life ; and they shall never 
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My 
Father, which gave them me, is greater than all ; and none is able to 
pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." 
John x. 27, etc. 

Then Jews were so incensed at this declaration, which they con- 
sidered as blasphemous, that they took up stones to east at him, in 
conformity to the law, which commands all blasphemers to be stoned. 
But Jesus asked them, which of the beneficent miracles he had 
wrought, in confirmation of his mission, deserved such treatment. 
"Many good works have I showed you from my Father; for which 
of those works do ye stone mei " As if he had said, I have fed the 
hungry in the desert, I have healed the lame, I have cleansed the 
lepers, I have cured the sick, I have given sight to the blind, I have 
cast out devils, and I have raised the dead : for which of these works 
are ye going to stone me? Do these miracles indicate that the author 
of them is an impostor ? Or, can you be so stupid as to think that 
the Almighty would suffer any person to perform such works with 
no other intention than to deceive the human race? The Jews 
answered : We are far from thinking that thou deservest punishment 
for any good work thou hast done in favor of the afflicted and dis- 
tressed : the punishment is intended to chastise thee for thy blas- 
phemous speeches ; for thou, though a weak mortal, a being of a day, 
like ourselves, arrogantly assumest the power and majesty of the 
Most High, and, by claiming the incommunicable attributes of the 
Deity, ma It est thyself God. u For a good work we stone thee not ; 
but for blasphemy ; and because that thou, being a man, makest thy- 
self God." John x. 33. 

Jesus replied, Have not the Scriptures expressly called those gods 
and the sons of God, who were commissioned to govern God's people, 
on account of their high office, and the inspiration of the Spirit, 
which was, though sparingly, bestowed upon them ; can you, there- 
fore, impute to that person whom the Almighty hath sanctified and 
sent into the world to save lost mankind, and pay the price of re- 
demption for all the sons of men; can you, I say, impute blasphemy 



212 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



unto him, for taking on himself the title of the Son of God ? If my 
own assertion be not sufficient to convince you of my personal dig- 
nity, you must surely think that the many miracles I have wrought 
abundantly prove that they are the works of the Most High, as 
Omnipotence alone could perform them ; and therefore, that the 
Father and I are so united, that whatever I say, or do, is approved 
of by the Almighty. " Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are 
gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, 
and the scripture cannot be broken ; say ye of him, whom the Father 
hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest ; because 
I said, I am the Son of God ? If I do not the works of my Father, 
believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the 
works ; that ye may know and believe that the Father is in me, and 
I in him." John x. 34, etc. But this reply, instead of satisfying the 
Jews, rather tended to enrage them the more : and Jesus seeing it was 
of no consequence to reason with so headstrong a people, withdrew 
himself in an extraordinary manner, escaped from them. "Therefore 
they sought again to take him, but he escaped out of their hands." 
John x. 39. 

The feast of the Dedication being now over, Jesus departed from 
Jerusalem, and retired into the parts of Perea beyond Jordan. Here 
his ministry was attended with great success; for the inhabitants of 
the country, remembering what had been told them by John the 
Baptist concerning Jesus, and being sensible that the doctrine and 
miracles of our blessed Saviour were fully equal to what the Baptist 
had foretold, firmly believed him to be the Messiah. 

Accordingly, to this supposition, which seems the most agreeable 
to reason, the inhabitants of these countries enjoyed the doctrines and 
miracles of the Son of God for a very considerable time. But, 
however this be, the evangelist tells us, that while he was executing 
his ministry beyond Jordan, he happened to pray publicly with 
such fervency, that one of his disciples, who w T as exceedingly affected 
both with the matter and manner of his address, begged he would 
teach them to pray. "And it came to pass, that as he was praying 
in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto 
him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." 
Luke xL 1. 

Soon after, our blessed Saviour happened to cast out a devil, when 
some who were present ascribed the miracle to Beelzebub : " And ho 
was casting out a devil, and it wae dumb. And it came to pass, 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



213 




THE SANHEDRIM IN SESSION. 



when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake ; and the people won* 
dered. But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beel- 
zebub, the chief of the devils." Luke xi. 14, 15. However strange 
this argument may seem, and however weak and absurd it must 
appear to impartial judges, yet it had a considerable effect on illiterate 
{arsons, especially on those whose prejudices and .interests it fa- 
vored. The Pharisees pretended, that as Jesus had all along been 
at great pains to oppose the traditions which most of the teachers 
of that age considered as the essentials of religion, and the prin- 
cipal branches of piety, they concluded that he must be a very 
wicked person. They also supposed that a false prophet had 
the power of working signs and wonders; and thence concluded 
that our Saviour performed all his miracles by the assistance of evil 
spirits, with an intention to turn the people from the worship of the 
true God. 

Another pretended reason for ascribing his miracles to evil spirits 
was, that the demons themselves, when they departed out of the pe/* 



214 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST, 



sons possessed, honored him with the title of Messiah. Their argu- 
ments, though so evidently founded on falsehood, contributed largely 
to the infidelity of the Jews, and however we may be surprised that 
such weak reasons should have any effect, considering what multi- 
tudes were witnesses of the many miracles the blessed Jesus performed 
oa the sick of all sorts, on the blind, the deaf, the dumb, the maimed, 
the lame, on paralytics, lunatics, demoniacs, and other miserable ob- 
jects; nay, on the dead, whom he raised again to life; on the winds 
and the seas : in a word, on every part of nature ; fixed that head- 
strong people in their infidelity. 

.Though part of the multitude were content with ascribing this 
miracle to the power of evil spirits, others went still farther, desiring 
him to prove himself the Messiah, by giving them a sign frtfm 
heaven. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, refused to grant them 
this request, telling them that they were a kicked race of mortals, 
and discovered a very perverse disposition, by seeking, after so many 
miracles had been performed, a sign from heaven ; and therefore 
that no greater sign should be given them than the sign of the 
prophet Jonas. " This is an evil generation ; they seek a sign ; and 
there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet." 
Luke xi. 29. 

"No man," added the Saviour of the world, "when he hath lighted 
a candle, putteth it into a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on 
a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light." 

No man endued with the Spirit of God concealeth the blessed 
gift ; but holdeth forth the glorious doctrines of salvation, as it were, 
like a candle, that the light of the same may shine upon the souls 
of men, who hear them. "The light of the body is the eye: 
therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of 
light; but Avhen thine eye is evil, thy body is also full of darkness. 
Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness." 
Luke xi. '34, etc. 

Take care, therefore, that thy soul be so completely enlightened 
by the Spirit, that the emanations of its light be not in the least in- 
terrupted by any evil passion or affection ; that all the faculties of 
the soul may be as much enlightened and assisted, as the members 
of the body are by the bright shining of a candle. " If thy whole 
body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall 
be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee 
light." Luke xi. 36. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



215 



Thus did our blessed Saviour prove the truth of his mission, 
against the cavils and sophistical reasonings of his malicious enemies. 
And when he had done speaking, one of the Pharisees present desired 
he would dine with him. The Redeemer of mankind accepted the 
invitation, though probably given, as some think, with an insidious 
design, accompanied the Pharisee to his house, and sat down to meat, 
but without performing the ceremony of washing, observed by all the 
other guests. 

An omission of this kind could not fail of surprising the Pharisee, 
as he had thereby shown an open contempt of their traditions. 
Jesus, who well knew the thoughts of this bigoted Pharisee, said to 
him, Your sect are remarkably careful to keep everything clean that 
touches your food, lest by eating it your body should be polluted ; 
but you take no pains to cleanse your minds from the pollutions of 
rapine, covetousness and wickedness. You must surely be convinced, 
that he who created the body formed also the soul and can you 
imagine that the Almighty, who requires purity of body, because it 
is the work of his hands, will not also insist upon a greater purity of 
soul, which is undoubtedly the far nobler part of human nature? 
Instead, therefore, of that scrupulous solicitude of washing your 
hands, when ye sit down to meat, ye should be careful to apply your- 
selves to the great duty of charity: a duty that will render it impos- 
sible for any external things to defile you, but will be at all times 
acceptable to your Maker. " Now do ye Pharisees make clean the 
outside of the cup and the platter ; but your inward part is full of 
ravening and wickedness. Ye fools, did not he that made that which 
is without make that which is within also? But rather give alms of 
such things as ye have ; and, behold all things are clean unto you/' 
Luke xi, 39, etc. But the Pharisees, obstinate and perverse, with- 
stood every means made use of by the benign Redeemer of mankind 
to conquer their prejudices, and bring them to the knowledge of the 
truth, and therefore our blessed Saviour treated them, on this occasion, 
with a kind and wholesome severity, denouncing against them the 
most dreadful woes, for regarding so zealously the ceremonial parts 
of religion, and at the same time utterly neglecting the very precepts 
of their own religion. " Woe unto you, Pharisees ! for ye tithe mint 
and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love 
of God : these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other un- 
done. Woe unto you, Pharisees ! for ye love the uppermost seats in 
the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.. Woe unto you, 



216 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye are as graves which appear 
not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them." Luke 
xi. 42, etc. 

A certain lawyer, who sat at the table, thinking that his rebuke, 
though levelled principally against the Scribes and Pharisees, affected 
his order also, was greatly displeased. But our blessed Saviour, who 
had never any regard to the persons of men, despised his resentment, 
and told him freely what he thought of their character. " Woe unto 
you also, ye lawyers ! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be 
borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your 
fingers." Luke xi. 46. You pervert, in a very erroneous manner, 
the interpretation of scripture, for no other reason than to favor the 
tradition of the elders, and by that means lay so heavy a burden on 
the shoulders of the descendants of Jacob, that neither you nor they 
will touch with one of their finders. The blessed Jesus also con- 
demned them for building the sepulchres of the prophets, whom their 
fathers had murdered ; because they did not do it from the respect 
which they had for the memory of these holy men, but from a secret 
approbation of their fathers' actions ; as too evidently appeared from 
their whole conduct. " Woe unto you ! for ye build the sepulchres 
of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. Truly, ye bear 
witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers : for they indeed 
killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. Therefore also said the 
wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some 
of them they shall slay and persecute; that the blood of all the 
prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, might 
be required of this generation ; from the blood of Abel unto the 
blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: 
verily I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation." Luke 
xi. 47, etc. 

Our Lord also reproved the lawyers for filling the minds of the 
people with notions founded on the wrong interpretation of scripture, 
whereby they were prejudiced against the gospel ; not being contented 
with rejecting it themselves, they took care to hinder others from 
receiving it. " Woe unto you, lawyers ! for ye have taken away 
the key of knowledge : ye entered not in yourselves, and them that 
were entering in ye hindered." Luke xi. 52. 

Such honest reprimands highly provoked the Pharisee and his 
guests. They were conscious of being guilty of the crimes laid 
to their charge, but unwilling that the people should think them 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



211 



guilty; and therefore, out of revenge, urged him to speak on a 
variety of topics, hoping they should be able by these means to find 
occasion of rendering him obnoxious either to the government or the 
multitude. "And as he said these things unto them, the Scribes 
and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke 
him to speak of many things ; laying wait for him, and seeking to 
catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him." 
Luke xi. 53, 54. 




218 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XXL 

EXPLANATION OP THE ORIGIN AND OPINIONS OP THE DIFFERENT SECTS AMONGST 
THE JEWS — OUR LORD TEACHES THE MULTITUDE BY PLAIN DISCOURSE. AND 
ALSO BY PARABLES. 

Having undertaken to write the history of the life of our blessed 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we cannot omit a distinct account 
of the different sects of the Jews, a people with whom he was most 
intimately concerned, both as an elucidation of many circumstances, 
as well as a verification of many things foretold concerning the 
Messiah. 

Josephus reckons four principal sects among the Jews; the 
Pharisees, the Sadducees, (called also Herodians,) the Essenes, and 
the Galileans. The evangelists mention only two, the Pharisees and 
Sadducees. 

The rise of the Pharisees is unknown. They claim, indeed, the 
celebrated Hillel for their founder, as he is by some supposed to 
have lived during the pontificate of Jonathan, about a hundred 
and fifty years before the birth of Christ: but other-s, with more 
reason, suppose that he w T as contemporary with the famous Someas, 
who lived about the time of Herod, long before whom the sect 
of the Pharisees was in high repute. It is, therefore, probable 
that they claim Hillel rather as an ornament, than as the author of 
the sect. 

One of the most famous tenets of the Pharisees was that of an oral 
tradition handed down from Moses, and to which they attributed the 
same divine authority as to the sacred books. This being strenuously 
opposed by the Sadducees and Samaritans, rendered these equally de- 
tested by them. But none more incurred their hatred than the 
blessed Jesus, who embraced every occasion of reproving them, for 
the unjustifiable preference they gave this pretended tradition to the 
written word of God, and for condemning those as apostates, worthy 
of death, who did not pay the same, or even a greater, regard to the 
former than to the latter. 

Another tenet they embraced in opposition to the Sadducees, was 
that of the existence of angels, the immortality of the soul, the resur- 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



219 



rection of the dead, and future rewards. But, with regard to the 
last, they excluded all who were notoriously wicked from having any 
share in the happiness of eternity; supposing, that as soon as death 
had put a period to their lives, their souls were conveyed into ever- 
lasting punishment. 

A third tenet was, that all things were subject to fate ; or, as some 
expressed it, to the heavens. It is not easy to conceive what they 
meant by this : Josephus, indeed,* will have it, that they designed to 
reconcile the fatality or predestination of the Essenes, with the free 
will of the Sadducees. 

If so, this is not the only absurdity, or even contradiction, which 
they held ; but a certain learned prelate seems to have proved that 
they attributed all to fate, or to that chain of causes to which the 
Creator had subjected all things from the beginning; among which 
the influence of the heavenly bodies was considered as the principal. 
This seems to be hinted at by St. James, in the beginning of his 
epistle to the new converts, where he explodes that pharisaical leaven 
by the most beautiful opposition of the immutability of God, the giver 
of all good, to the mutability of the planets, which, according to that 
notion, must necessarily vary their aspects from a malign to a benevo- 
lent one, and the contrary, even by their natural motion and change 
of position. 

This tenet of the Pharisees was, therefore, a source of dislike to the 
doctrines delivered by the blessed Jesus, as these affirm that men are 
the authors of their own unbelief, disobedience, and obstinacy; and 
consequently answerable for that, and all the train of evils these vices 
draw after them. 

But the most distinguished character of the Pharisees, and that 
which rendered them more obnoxious to the just censures of our 
blessed Saviour, was their supererogatory attachment to the ceremonial 
law; their frequent washings, fastings, and prayings; their giving 
alms publicly, seeking for proselytes, scrupulous tithings, affected 
gravity of dress, gesture, and mortified looks, their building the 
tombs of the prophets, to tell the world that they were more righteous 
than their ancestors, who murdered them, though they were them- 
selves plotting the death of one greater than all the prophets; their 
over-scrupulous observance of the Sabbath, to the exclusion of the 
works of the greatest charity, and many others of the like nature ; 
while they were wholly negligent of the moral and eternal law of 
mercy and justice ; of charity and humility, and the like indispensable 



220 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



virtues. The very best of them contented themselves with abstaining 
from the actual committing any enormous act, while they indulged 
themselves in the most wicked thoughts and desires. Nay, some, 
more hardened in their vices, made no scruple not only of coveting, 
but destroying poor widows' houses of committing the vilest oppres- 
sions, injustice, and cruelties, and of encouraging these enormities in 
their followers, under the specious cloak of religion and sanctity. 
Well, therefore, might the great Redeemer of mankind compare them 
to whited sepulchres, beautiful indeed without, but within full of 
rottenness and corruption. 

The last erroneous opinion we shall mention of the Pharisees, com- 
mon indeed to all the other sects, but more exactly conformable to their 
haughty, rapacious, and cruel temper, was their expectation of a 
powerful, a conquering Messiah, who was to bring the whole world 
under the Jewish yoke; so that there was scarce an inhabitant of 
Jerusalem, however mean, that did not expect to be made a governor 
of some opulent province, under that wonderful Prince. How un- 
likely was it, then, that the preaching of the meek, the humble Jesus, 
whose doctrine breathed nothing but humility, peace, sincerity, con- 
tempt of the world, and universal love and beneficence, should ever 
be relished by that proud, that covetous, that hypocritical sect, or 
even by the rest of the people, while these, their teachers, so strenu- 
ously opposed it ! 

The sect of the Sadducees is said to have been founded by one, 
Saddoc, a disciple of Antigonus of Socho. Their chief tenet was, that 
our serving God ought to be free either from slavish fear of punish- 
ment, or from selfish hope of reward ; that it should be disinterested, 
^nd flow only from the pure love and fear of the Supreme Being. 
They added, that God was the only immaterial being ; in consequence 
of which they denied the existence of angels, or any spiritual sub- 
stances, except the Almighty himself. It is, therefore, no wonder that 
the Sadducees should take every opportunity of opposing and ridicul- 
ing the doctrine of the resurrection. 

Another of their tenets, equally opposite to the Pharisees and to 
the doctrine of Christ, was, that a man was constituted absolute mas- 
ter of all his actions, and stood in no need of any assistance to 
choose or act : for this reason they were always very severe in their 
sentences, when they sat as judges. They rejected all the pretended oral 
traditions of the Pharisees, admitting only the texts ot the sacred books, 
and preferred those of Moses to all the rest of the inspired writings. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



221 



They are charged with some other erroneous tenets by Josephus 
and the Talmudists; but those already mentioned are abundantly 
sufficient for the purpose. The notion of a future life, universal 
judgments, eternal rewards and punishments to men whom a con- 
trary doctrine had long soothed into luxury, and an overgrown fond- 
ness for temporal happiness, which they considered as the only reward 
for their obedience, must of necessity appear strange and frightful ; 
and as such could not fail of meeting with the strongest opposition 
from them ; especially if we add what Josephus observes, that they 
were in general men of the greatest quality and opulence, and conse- 
quently too apt to prefer the pleasures and grandeur of this life to 
those of another. 

The sect of the Galileans, or Gaulonites, so called from Judas, the 
Galilean, or Gaulonite, appeared soon after the banishment of Arche- 
laus, when his territories were made a Roman province, and the 
government given to Coponius. For the Jews, considering this as an 
open attempt to reduce them to slavery, Judas took advantage of 
their discontent; and, to ripen them for an insurrection, Augustus 
furnished them with a plausible pretence, by issuing about this time 
an edict for surveying the whole province of Syria, and laying on it 
a proportional tax. Judas, therefore, who was a man of uncommon 
ambition, took occasion from this incident to display all his elo- 
quence, in order to convince the Jews that such a submission was 
nothing less than base idolatry, and placing men on a level with 
the God of Jacob, who was the only Lord and Sovereign that could 
challenge their obedience and subjection. The party which he drew 
after him became in a short time so considerable, that they threw 
everything into confusion, laid the foundation for those frightful con- 
sequences that ensued, and which ended only with the destruction of 
Jerusalem. 

The Essenes, though not mentioned by the evangelists, made a 
very considerable sect among the Jews, and are highly celebrated by 
Josephus, Philo, Pliny, and several Christian writers, both ancient 
and modern. It is impossible to trace their origin, or even the 
etymology of their name. This, however, is certain, that they 
were settled in Judea in the time of Jonathan, the brother and suc- 
cessor of Judas Maccabeus, about one hundred and fifty years before 
Christ. 

The Essenes distinguished themselves by their rules and manner of 
life into laborious and contemplative. The former divided their time 



222 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



between prayer and labor ; such as the exercise of some handicraft, or 
the cultivation of some particular spot of ground, where they planted 
and sowed such roots, corn, etc., as served for their food ; and the 
latter, between prayer, contemplation, and study. In this last they 
confined themselves to the sacred books and morality, without 
troubling themselves with any branch of philosophy. Both the con- 
templative and laborious had their synagogues, their stated hours for 
prayer, for reading and expounding the sacred books. The latter was 
always performed by the elders, who were seated at the upper end of 
the synagogue, according to their seniority ; while the younger, who 
were permitted to read the lessons, were placed at the lower. Their 
expositions were generally of the allegorical kind, in which they seem 
to have excelled all their Jewish brethren. But they paid the great- 
est regard to the five books of Moses, and considered that lawgiver as 
the head of all the inspired penmen : they even condemned to imme- 
diate death whoever spoke disrespectfully either of him or his writings. 
Upon this account they studied, read, and expounded them more than 
all the rest, and seemed to have drawn all their religion chiefly from 
the Pentateuch. The doctrines and expositions of the elders were re- 
ceived with implicit faith, and in their practice they conformed with 
an entire submission to all their sect. 

With respect to their faith, they believed the existence of angels, 
the immortality of the soul, and a future state of rewards and punish- 
ments, like the Pharisees ; but seem to have had no notion of the 
resurrection. They considered the souls of men as composed of a 
most subtle aether, which immediately after their separation from the 
body, or from the cage or prison, as they called it, were adjudged to 
a place of endless happiness or misery, that the good took their flight 
over the ocean, into some warm or delightful regions prepared for 
them, while the wicked were conveyed to some cold and intemperate 
climate, where they were left to groan under an inexpressible weight 
of misery. They were likewise entirely averse to the Sadducean doc- 
trine of free-will, attributing all to an eternal fatality, or chain of 
causes. They were averse to all kinds of oaths, affirming that a 
man's life ousrht to be such that he may be credited without them. 

~ ml 

The contemplative sort placed the excellency of their meditative life 
in raising their minds so far above the earth, and placing their 
thoughts on heaven : when they had attained this degree of excellency 
they acquired the character of prophets. 

In their practice they excelled all the other sects in austerity. If 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



223 



we may credit Philo, it was a fundamental maxim with them, upon 
their entrance into the contemplative life, to renounce the world, and 
to divide among their friends and relations their properties and 
estates. They never eat till after sunset, and the best of their food 
was coarse bread, a little salt, and a few stomachic herbs. Their 
clothing was made of coarse wool, plain, but white. They condemned 
all sorts of unctions and perfumes as luxurious and effeminate. Their 
beds were hard, and their sleep short. Their heads, or superiors, were 
generally chosen according to seniority, unless there started up among 
the brotherhood some more conspicuous for their learning, piety, or 
prophetic spirit. Some of them, indeed, were so contemplative, that 
they never stirred out of their cells, or even looked out of their 
windows during the whole week, spending their time in reading sa- 
cred books, and writing comments upon them. On the Sabbath day 
they repaired to their synagogues early in the morning, and continued 
there the whole day in prayers, singing of psalms, or expounding the 
sacred books. 

Having endeavored to explain the origin and tenets of several 
sects among the Jews, we now return to the history of our blessed 
Saviour, whom we left preaching in the country beyond Jordan, 
where he was surrounded by an innumerable multitude of people. 

In the audience of this vast assembly, he gave his disciples in gen- 
eral a charge to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, namely, 
hypocrisy ; because all their actions would be brought to light, either 
in this world or in that which is to come ; and therefore exhorted 
them to be very careful never to do anything which could not bear 
the light, but to let the whole of their behavior be honest, just, and 
good. 

"Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For 
there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed ; neither hid, that 
shall not be known. Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in dark- 
ness, shall be heard in the light ; and that which ye have spoken in 
the ear, in closets, shall be proclaimed upon the house-tops." Luke 
xii. 1-3. 

This argument against hypocrisy he improved as a reason for their 
acquiring another quality, which would much better serve all the ends 
they could propose ; namely, an undaunted resolution in the perform- 
ance of their duty, founded on a firm confidence in God, who would 
bring to light the most secret word and thought, publicly condemn 
the wicked, and justify his faithful servants and children. 



224 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



Fear not, said he, the malice of the human race ; it can extend no 
farther than the destruction of the body ; your soul may bid defiance 
to their impotent rage. But dread the displeasure of that Almighty 
Being, who, after he hath destroyed the body, is able to confine the 
soul in eternal torments. Remember all things are in his power, and 
that nothing happens without his permission : he provides for the 
meanest of his creatures, and surely you may think yourselves under 
his protection, who numbers the very hairs of your head ; nor can 
your enemies touch one of them without his permission. " And I say 
unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and 
after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you, 
whom ye shall fear : fear him, which, after he hath killed, hath power 
to cast into hell ; yea, I say unto you, fear him. Are not five spar- 
rows sold for two farthings: and not one of them is forgotten 
before God? but even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 
Fear not, therefore : ye are of more value than many sparrows." Luke 
xii. 4, etc. 

Our Lord, to animate his followers to perseverance, admonished 
them to look forward unto the general judgment, when he would 
acknowledge them as his servants, provided they acknowledged him 
in this world as their master, and cheerfully and constantly obeyed 
his commands ; but if they were ashamed of him y and his doctrine 
before the sons of men, he would disown them before the celestial host. 

And that those who reviled the Spirit, by whom they performed 
their miracles, should be punished by the Almighty, in proportion to 
the malignity of their crime; which is greater than that of reviling 
the Son of God himself ; because it will be impossible for them to re- 
pent. " Also I say unto you, Whoever shall confess me before men, 
him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God. But 
he that denieth me before men, shall be denied before the angels of 
God. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it 
shall be forgiven him ; but unto him that blasphemeth against the 
Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven. " Luke xii. 8, etc. 

He also cautioned his disciples not to be perplexed with regard to 
an answer when they should be brought before the rulers of the peo- 
ple, because they should be inspired by the Spirit of God. "And 
when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates and 
powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or 
what ye shall say : for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same 
hour what ye ought to say." Luke xii. 11, 12. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



225 



While our blessed Saviour was delivering these exhortations to his 
-disciples, a certain person among the multitude begged him, that he 
would interpose his authority with his brother, in order to oblige him 
to divide their paternal inheritance between them : but as this decision 
properly belonged to the magistrates, our blessed Saviour, who came 
into the world to redeem the souls of mankind, and to purchase for 
ithem an eternal, not a temporal inheritance, declined the office. He, 
however, embraced the opportunity of giving his hearers the most 
-solemn caution against covetousness ; declaring that neither the length 
nor happiness of human life had any dependence on the largeness of 
possessions. " Take heed, and beware of covetousness : for a man's 
life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." 
Luke xii. 15. 

To excite their comparative negligence of the things of this life, he 
placed before them, in the strongest light x an example of the be- 
witching influence of wealth, in the parable of the rich man who was. 
cut off in the midst of his projects, and became a remarkable example 
of the folly of amassing the goods of this life, without having any re- 
gard to the commands of the Almighty. This wretched man, forget- 
ting his own mortality, made preparations for a long and luxurious 
life, pleasing himself with the thoughts of possessing an inexhaustible 
fund of sensual enjoyments. But, alas ! while he was providing re- 
positories for his riches, the inexorable king of terrors seized him, and 
that very night hurried him before the awful tribunal of Omnipo- 
tence. " And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a 
certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within 
himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to 
bestow my fruits ? And he said, This will I do ; I will pull down my 
barns, and build greater ; and there will I bestow all my fruits and 
my goods. And I will say to my soul ; Soul, thou hast much goods 
laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But 
God said unto him, Thou fool ! this night thy soul shall be required 
of thee : then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided ?" 
Luke xii. 16, etc. 

How solemn the appeal ! while he lay waking on his bed, in 
anxious solicitude what he should do with his abundance ; while his 
heart was dilated with the hopes of a variety of pleasures and in- 
dulgences; in that very moment the golden dream vanishes at 
once; all his thoughts perish, and in their stead a horrid account 
jstares him in the face; a scene of judgment presents itself to his ter- 
15 



226 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



rified imagination! a dark night of horror, in an instant, overwhelms 
that soul to which he had promised so much ease, so much pleas- 
ure; and, instead of ease, instead of eating, drinking, and making 
merry, eternal tortures, unspeakable thirst, weeping, wailing, and 
gnashing of teeth must be the portion of this miserable soul to all 
eternity ! 

" So is he," added our blessed Saviour, " that layeth up treasure 
for himself, and is not rich towards God." Thus shall he be taken 
away from all his soul desireth ; thus shall he be torn from all his 
temporal prospects and pleasures. None of his beloved enjoyments 
shall follow him : naked as he came shall he depart out of the world, 
nor shall all his riches be able to procure him the least comfort or 
respite in these scenes of terror. 

Having spoken this parable, our Lord proceeded to caution his 
disciples against anxious cares for the things of this world ; from a 
consideration that the care of God's providence extends to every 
part of the creation. The fowls of heaven are fed by his bounty,, 
and the lillies that adorn the valleys are supplied with rain from 
the clouds of heaven : if, therefore, said the blessed J esus, Omnipo- 
tence so carefully provides for the inferior parts of the creation, the 
children of men have surely reason to rely on his bounty, and depend 
for subsistence on his merciful hand. He added, that as God had 
called them to everlasting happiness in a future life, he would 
surely provide for them all the necessaries of the present. " Fear 
not, little flock ; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the 
kingdom." 

At the same time he gave his disciples another precept, peculiarly 
calculated for those times, in which the profession of the gospel ex- 
posed men to the loss of their substance. " Sell that ye have, and 
give alms : provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in 
the heavens that faileth not; where no thief approacheth, neither 
moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart 
be also." Luke xii. 33, 34. 

Having thus recommended to them the disengagement of their 
affections from the things of this world, he exhorted them to labor 
after improvement in grace. " Let your loins be girded about, and 
your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait 
for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding ; that when he 
cometh and knoeketh, they may open unto him immediately." Luke 
xii. 35, 36. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



227 



CHAPTER XXII. 

OUR LORD REPROVES THE IGNORANCE OP THE PEOPLE IN NOT UNDERSTAND- 
ING THE SIGNS WHICH PRECEDED HIS APPEARANCE — PERTINENTLY REPLIES 
TO AN IGNORANT QUESTION AND INFERENCE CONCERNING THE GALILEANS — 
TEACHES BY PARABLE — RELIEVES A DISTRESSED WOMAN — IS WARNED TO 
DEPART THE COUNTRY, IN ORDER TO ESCAPE THE RESENTMENT OP HEROD. 

The great Preacher of Israel having delivered these salutary ad- 
monitions to his disciples and followers, directed his discourse to the 
unbelieving crowd. You can, said he, by the signs that appear in 
the sky, and on the earth, form a judgment of the weather; and why 
can ye not also discover the time of the Messiah's appearance, by the 
signs which have preceded it ? " When ye see a cloud rise out of the 
west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower, and so it is. And 
when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat ; and it 
cometh to pass. Ye hypocrites ! ye can discern the face of the sky ; 
and of the earth ; but how is it that ye do not discern this time ? " 
Luke xii. 54, etc. 

The prediction of the Son of man coming to punish the Jews for 
their rebellion and infidelity, delivered under the similitude of one 
who cometh secretly and unexpectedly to plunder a house, was a loud 
call to a national repentance. 

In order, therefore, to improve that prediction, he exhorted them 
to a speedy reformation ; telling them, that the least degree of reflec- 
tion would be sufficient to point out to them the best methods they 
could possibly make use of, for averting the impending judgments of 
the Almighty; illustrating what he had said by the punishments 
commonly inflicted on the man who refuses to make reparation for 
the injuries he has done his neighbor. " When thou goest with thine 
adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence 
that thou may est be delivered from him ; lest he hale thee to the 
judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast 
thee into prison. I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou 
hast paid the very last mite." Luke xii. 58, 59. 

Some of his hearers thought proper to confirm this doctrine, by 
giving what they considered as an example of it : u There were pres- 



THE LIFE CHRIST, 



ent at that season some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood 
Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices ; " thinking that Providence, 
for some extraordinary crime, had suffered these Galileans to be 
murdered at the altar. But our Lord showed them the error of their 
opinion and inference concerning this point, it being no indication 
that these Galileans were greater sinners than their countrymen, 
because they had suffered so severe a calamity ; and, at the same 
time, exhorted them to improve such instances of calamity, as incite- 
ments to their own repentance; assuring them that if they neglected 
so salutary a work, they should all likewise perish. " And Jesus 
answering, said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were sin- 
ners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I 
tell you, Nay : but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." 
Luke xiii. 2, 3. 

He illustrated this doctrine by putting them in mind of the 
eighteen persons on whom the tower of Siloam fell ; showing them, 
by this instance, the folly of interpreting the dispensations of Provi- 
dence in that manner; for, though this calamity seemed to flow im- 
mediately from the hand of God, yet in all probability it had involved 
people who were remarkable for their piety and goodness. "Or 
those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, 
think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusa- 
lem ? I tell you, Nay : but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise 
perish." Luke xiii. 4, 5. 

To rouse them from their indolence, and to induce them to seek 
the aid of God's grace and Spirit, he added the parable of the fig-tree, 
which the master of the vineyard, after finding it three years barren, 
ordered to be destroyed ; but which was spared one year longer, at 
the earnest solicitations of the gardener. " A certain man had a fig- 
tree planted in his vineyard ; and he came and sought fruit thereon, 
and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, 
Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and 
$nd none : cut it down ; why cumbereth it the ground ? And he 
answering, said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall 
dig about it, and dung it : and if it bear fruit, well ; and if not, then 
after that thou shalt cut it down." Luke xiii. 6, etc. 

By this parable our blessed Saviour represented the goodness of the 
Almighty towards the Jews, in choosing them for his people, giving 
them the outward dispensations of religion, and informing them of 
the improvements he expected they should make of these advantages, 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



229 



and the punishments he would inflict upon them, in case they slighted 
such benevolent offers. 

He also represented by it, in a very beautiful manner, the un- 
bounded mercies of the Almighty, in sparing them at the intercession 
of his Son, and giving them a further time of trial, and still greater 
advantages, by the preaching of the blessed Jesus and his apostles ; 
concluding with an intimation, that if they neglected this last oppor- 
tunity, they should perish without remedy. 

During the stay of Jesus in the country of Perea, he observed, while 
he was preaching in one of the synagogues, on the Sabbath day, a 
woman, who, during the space of eighteen years, had been unable to 
stand upright. A daughter of Abraham laboring under so terrible a 
disorder could not fail of attracting the compassion of the Son of God. 
He beheld the affecting object, he pitied her deplorable condition, he 
removed her complaint. She who came into the synagogue bowed 
down with an infirmity, was, by the all-powerful word of the Son of 
God, restored to her natural health, and returned to her house upright 
and full of vigor. 

Such a display of divine power and goodness, instead of exciting 
the gratitude, so highly offended the master of the synagogue, that he 
openly testified his displeasure, and reproved the people as Sabbath- 
breakers, because they came on that day to be healed. " There are 
six days," said this surly ruler to the people, " in which men ought to 
work : in them, therefore, come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath 
day." Luke xiii. 14. 

But our blessed Saviour soon silenced this hypocritical Pharisee, by 
showing that he had not deviated from their own avowed practice. 
They made no scruple of loosing their cattle and leading them to 
water on the Sabbath day, because the mercy of the action sufficiently 
justified them for performing it. And surely his action of loosing, by 
a single word, a woman, a rational creature, a daughter of Abraham, 
that had been bound by an incurable distemper, during the tedious 
space of eighteen years, was abundantly justified ; nor could this big- 
oted ruler have thought otherwise had not his reason been blinded by 
his superstition. "The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou 
hypocrite ! doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his 
ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering ? And ought not 
this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, 
lo these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day ? 
And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed.: 



230 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done 
by him." Luke xiii. 15, etc. 

The great Redeemer, having now planted the seeds of the gospel in 
the country of Perea, crossed the Jordan, and travelled by slow 
journeys towards Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in every village, 
and declaring the glad tidings of salvation to all the inhabitants of 
those countries. 

AVhile he was thus laboring for the salvation of mankind, one of 
the persons who accompanied him, asked him, " Lord, are there few 
that be saved ?" In all probability the person who proposed this ques- 
tion had heard the Son of God describe the success of the gospel, by the 
parables of the mustard-seed and leaven ; and his notions of the king- 
dom of the Messiah, being those that were then entertained by the 
Jews in general, he meant a temporal salvation. 

But Jesus, to convince him that he never intended to erect a secu- 
lar kingdom, answered the question in a spiritual manner, and told 
him that a small number only of the Jews would be saved ! exhorting 
them to embrace the offers of mercy before it was too late, for that 
many, after the period of their trial was concluded, and their state 
finally and irreversibly determined, should earnestly desire these be- 
nevolent offers, but should be denied their request. " Strive to enter 
in at the strait gate ; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter 
in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen 
up, and has shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to 
knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us ; and he shall an- 
swer, and say unto you, I know you not, whence ye are." Luke xiii. 
24, 25. 

He also repeated on this occasion what he had before delivered in 
his famous sermon on the mount ; and what he had observed to the 
multitude in commendation of the centurion's faith. "Then shall ye 
begin to say, AVe have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast 
taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not 
whence ye are ; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There 
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, 
and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, 
and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, 
and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall 
sit down in the kingdom of God. And, behold, there are last 
which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last." Luke 
xiii. 26, etc. 



THE LIFE 0 F C II 11 1 S'T. 



■231 



Immediately after Jesus had thus preacneu the kingdom of God to 
the multitude, certain of the Pharisees came to him, and told him, 
that unless he departed thence, Herod would destroy him : but this 
concern for his safety was altogether feigned, and their real design no 
other than to intimidate him, hoping by that means to induce him to 
leave the country, and retire into Judea, where they did not doubt 
but the chief priests would find some method of putting him to death. 
Perhaps Herod himself was privy to this message, and desirous that 
Jesus should leave his territories, though the agonies he had suffered 
on account of John the Baptist, hindered him from making use of 
force. That this was really the case see^iis evident, from the answer 
our blessed Saviour made to the Pharisees. " Go ye," said he to these 
hypocritical Israelites, " and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, 
and I do cures to-day, and to-morrow, and the third day I shall be 
perfected. Nevertheless, I must walk to-day, and to-morrow, and the 
day following : for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusa- 
lem." Luke xiii. 32, 33. Having given this answer to the Phari- 
sees, he reflected on the treatment the prophets had received from the 
inhabitants of Jerusalem ; pathetically lamented their obstinacy, and 
the terrible desolation that would in a short time overtake them. " O, 
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them 
that are sent unto thee ; how often would I have gathered thy chil- 
dren together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye 
would not ! Behold your house is left unto you desolate : and verily 
I say unto you, ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye 
shall say, Blessed is he that cometh m the name of the Lord." Luke 
xiii. 34, 35. 



232 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE BLESSED JESUS ACCEPTS THE PHARISEE 1 S INVITATION A THIRD TIME — DE- 
LIVERS DIVERS PARABLES REPRESENTING THE REQUISITES FOR ADMITTANCE 
INTO THE KINGDOM OP GOD — THE CARE OF THE REDEEMER FOR EVERY ONE OF 
HIS PEOPLE — THE RECEPTION OF A PENITENT SINNER, AND THE PUNISHMENT 
OF MISUSING THE BENEFITS OF THE GOSPEL. 

Our Saviour having finished this awful exclamation and predic- 
tion, was invited by one of the Pharisees to his house. Though he 
knew that this invitation arose not from a generous motive, yet as he 
never shunned any opportunity of doing good, even to his most im- 
placable enemies, he accepted it. At his entering the Pharisee's 
house, they placed before him a man that had a dropsy, doubtless with 
an intention to accuse him of healing on the Sabbath day ; being per- 
suaded that he would work a miracle in favor of so melancholy an 
object. Jesus, who knew the secret thoughts of their hearts, asked 
the lawyers and Pharisees, whether it was lawful to heal on the Sab- 
bath day. But they refusing to give any answer to the question, 
Jesus laid his hand on the diseased person, and immediately his com- 
plexion returned, his body was reduced to its ordinary dimensions, 
and his former health and strength renewed in an instant. 

So surprising a miracle might surely have convinced the Pharisees, 
that the author must have been endued with power from on high ; 
but instead of being persuaded that he was a person sent from God, 
and labored only for the benefit of the children of men, they were con- 
triving how they might turn this miracle to his disadvantage. Our 
Lord, however, soon disconcerted their projects, by proving that, ac- 
cording to their own avowed practice, he had done nothing but what 
was truly lawful. " Which of you," said he, " shall have an ass or 
an ox fall into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the 
Sabbath day?" If a calamity happens to one of your beasts, you 
make no scruple of assisting it on the Sabbath, though the action may 
be attended with considerable labor ; and surely I may relieve a de- 
scendant of Abraham, when nothing more is requisite than touching 
him with my hand. This argument was conclusive, and so plain>. 



234 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



that even the grossest stupidity must feel its force, and the most viru- 
lent malice could not contradict it. 

As the entertainment approached, our blessed Saviour, had an 
opportunity of observing the pride of the Pharisees, and remarking 
what an anxiety each of them expressed to obtain the most honorable 
place at the table. Nor did he let their ridiculous behavior pass 
without a proper animadversion ; in which he observed, that pride 
generally exposed a person to many effronts, and that humility is the 
surest method of gaining respect. " When thou art bidden," said he, 
tt of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room j lest a 
more honorable man than thou be bidden of him ; and he that bade 
thee and him come and say unto thee, Give this man place ; and thou 
begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art bid- 
den, go and sit down in the lowest room ; that when he that bade thee 
cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher : then shalt thou 
have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For 
whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased ; and he that humbleth 
himself shall be exalted." Luke xiv. 8, etc. 

Having thus addressed the guests in general, he turned to the mas- 
ter of the house, and said unto him, " When thou makest a dinner or 
a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, 
nor thy rich neighbors ; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense 
l)e made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the 
maimed, the lame, the blind." Luke xiv. 12, 13. 

Be very careful not to limit thy hospitality to the rich, but let the 
poor also partake of thy bounty. " And thou shalt be blessed ; for 
they cannot recompense thee : for thou shalt be recompensed at the 
resurrection of the just." Luke xiv. 14. 

One of the Pharisees, ravished with the delightful prospect , of the 
happiness good men enjoyed in the heavenly Canaan, cried out, 
" Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God." Blessed 
is he, who being admitted into the happy regions of Paradise, shall 
enjoy the conversation of the inhabitants of those heavenly countries ; 
as those spiritual repasts must regale and invigorate his mind beyond 
expression. In answer to which our blessed Saviour delivered the 
parable of the marriage-supper, representing, by the invitation of the 
guests, the doctrine of the gospel, and the success those beneficent 
invitations to the great feast of heaven should meet with among the 
Jews : foretelling, that though it was attended with every inviting 
circumstance, they would disdainfully reject it, and prefer the pleas- 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



235 



ores of a temporal existence to those of an eternal state ; while the 
Gentiles, with the greatest cheerfulness, would embrace the beneficent 
offer, and thereby be prepared to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob, in the happy mansions of the kingdom of heaven. But as this 
parable was afterwards spoken by our blessed Saviour in the temple, 
we shall defer our observations on it, till we come to the history where 
it was again delivered. 

When Jesus departed from the Pharisee's house, great multitudes 
of people thronged to him, to hear his doctrine ; but mistook the true 
intention of it, expecting he was going to establish the Messiah's 
throne in Jerusalem, and render all the nations of the world tributary 
to his power. The benevolent Jesus therefore took this opportunity 
to undeceive them, and to declare, in the plainest terms, that his king- 
dom was not of this world, and consequently that those who expected, 
by following him, to obtain temporal advantages, would find them- 
selves wretchedly mistaken; as, on the contrary, his disciples must 
expect to be persecuted from city to city, and hated of all men for his 
namesake : though it was requisite for those who would be his true 
followers, to prefer his service to the riches, grandeur, and pleasures 
of the world : and to show, by their conduct, that they had much less 
respect and value for the dearest objects of their affections than for 
him. " If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, 
and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own 
life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear 
his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple." Luke xiv. 26, 27. 

And in order to induce them to weigh this doctrine attentively in 
their minds, he elucidated it with two opposite cases, that of an un- 
thinking builder, and that of a rash warrior. The former was obliged 
to leave the structure unfinished, because he had foolishly begun the 
building before he had computed the cost ; and the latter, reduced to 
the dilemma of being ingloriously defeated, or meanly suing for peace 
previous to the battle ; having rashly declared war, before he had con- 
sidered the strength of his own and his enemy's army. " So likewise, 
whosoever he be of you," added the blessed Jesus, " that forsaketh 
not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." Luke xiv. 33. 

The publicans* and sinners, roused by the alarming doctrine of our 

* The publicans were exceedingly obnoxious to the Jews, inasmuch as they 
were the collectors of the Roman revenue. It was the habit of the Roman Senate 
to form the direct taxes and the customs (portoria) to Capitalists who undertook 
to pay a given sum into the treasury {in publicum), from which they were called 



236 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



Lord, listened to it attentively. This opportunity was readily em- 
braced by the great Redeemer of mankind, who not only condescended, 
to preach to them the happy tidings of eternal life, but even accom- 
panied them to their own houses ; that, if possible, the seeds of the 
gospel might take root in their hearts. 

But this condescension of the meek and humble Jesus was consid- 
ered by the haughty Pharisees as an action too mean for the character 
of a prophet. They murmured, and were highly displeased at a con- 
descension, which ought to have given them the greatest joy. But 
Jesus soon showed them their mistake, by repeating to them the para- 
bles of the lost sheep and piece of money, intimating thereby the great 
care all prophets and pastors ought to take of those committed to 
their care, and the obligations they lay under for searching diligently 
for every wandering sinner, whose conversion is a grateful offering 
to the Almighty. " There is joy in the presence of the angels of God 
over one sinner that repenteth." Luke xv. 10. 

To illustrate this doctrine still further, and show to the greatest 
sinner the willingness of God to receive him into his grace and favor 
— if convinced of his unworthy and lost condition in himself, and im- 
ploring forgiveness through the merits of Jesus Christ, and the 
renewal of his heart by the efficacious influence of his Spirit — he 
delivered the expressive parable of the prodigal son. 4 

A certain man had two sons, the younger of whom, not content to 

publicani. Sometimes the revenues were farmed out to a society, whose affairs 
■were managed by a director who resided at Rome, and transacted the business of 
the company through the sub-magislri, or local agents. These men were com- 
monly natives of the provinces to which they were appointed. " The publicani," 
says Dr. Win. Smith, "were banded together to support each other's interest, 
and at once resented and defied all interference. They demanded severe laws, 
and at once put every such law into execution. Their agents were encouraged 
in the most vexatious and fraudulent exactions, and a remedy was almost impossi- 
ble. If this was the case with the company, we may imagine how it stood with 
the underlings. They overcharged whenever they had an opportunity. They 
brought false charges, in the hope of extorting hush money. They detained and 
opened letters on mere suspicion. It was the basest of all livelihoods. * * In 
Judaea and Galilee, there were special circumstances of aggravation. The em- 
ployment brought out all the besetting vices of the Jewish character. The strong 
feeling of many Jews as to the absolute unlawfulness of paying tribute at all made 
matters worse. * * In addition to their other faults, the publicans of the New 
Testament were regarded as traitors and apostates, denied by their frequent inter- 
course with the heathen, willing tools of the oppressor. The class thus practi- 
cally excommunicated, furnished some of the earliest disciples both of the Bap- 
tist and of our Lord." 



THE 



LIFE OF CHRIST. 



237 



live in his father's house, safe under his protection, and happy under 
his eye, desired his father to give him the portion of goods which fell 
to his share. The indulgent father did not hesitate to grant his re- 
quest : but the ungrateful son had no sooner obtained what he asked 
of his parent, than he left the presence and neighborhood of so kind a 
father, and retired into a far country, where he had an opportunity of 
indulging, without restraint, his wicked inclinations ; and there he 
wasted his substance in riotous living. Having thus consumed the 
portion given him by his indulgent parent, he began to feel the 
miseries of want, and, to add to his misfortunes, a terrible famine 
arose in that land ; so that he soon became acquainted with the sharp 
stings of hunger. In this distressed condition, he joined himself to a 
citizen of that country, willing to try every expedient, rather than re- 
turn to his kind, his merciful father, and humbly confess his faults. 

His master, from a just contempt of his former pfodigality, em- 
ployed him in the meanest and most contemptible offices ; he sent 
him into his field to feed swine. Behold here, ye sons of extrava- 
gance, a change indeed ! Behold this thoughtless prodigal, reduced 
at once from a life of voluptuousness and gaiety, a life of pleasure and 
excess, to a life of the most abject slavery, a life of penury and want. 
Nay, so great was his hunger, so prodigious his distress, that he would 
even have been contented, in this miserable state, to have satisfied the 
cravings of hunger with the husks eaten by the swine : but no man 
relieved him, no man showed the least compassion for him ; so that 
the very swine were in a better condition than this miserable prodigal ! 

Thus miserably reduced, he was brought to himself: he had hitherto 
been in a state of utter forgetfulness ; but now began to reflect on his 
happy condition, while he continued with his father, before he had 
deviated from the paths of virtue, and to compare it with his present 
deplorable condition. " How many hired servants of my father," 
said he to himself, " have bread enough, and to spare, and I perish 
with hunger !" I will therefore, undeserving as I am, have recourse 
to his mercy and favor. " I will arise and go to my father," for such 
he still is, and I, though wretched and lost, am yet his son ; I will, 
therefore, " say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and 
before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son :" that 
happiness is too great for me to expect or desire; I have, by my be- 
havior, forfeited all right to so endearing, so valuable a title : " make 
me as one of thy hired servants." I desire nothing more, than that 
•thou wouldst mercifully receive me as one of thy hired servants. 



238 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



Having thus taken a firm resolution of throwing himself at the feet 
of his father, and imploring forgiveness for his past offences, he did 
not delay to put it immediately into execution : he arose, and with the 
utmost expedition came to his father. 

A scene of tenderness and affection, amazingly pathetic, now pre- 
sents itself to our view; his kind, his affectionate father saw him 
while he was yet afar off, his bowels yearned towards him, he had 
compassion on his lost, his ruined child ; paternal fondness would not 
suffer him to forbear ; he ran to meet him, he fell on his neck, he 
kissed him. 

Encouraged by this kind reception, the son fell down at his father's 
feet, and began to make confession of his faults, to plead his own un- 
worthiness, to request his father's pardon : " Father," said he, " I 
have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy 
to be called thy son." He was not suffered to proceed any further, 
the love of his parent prevented the rest ; he commanded his servants 
to bring the best robe, and put it on him, to put a ring on his hand, 
and shoes on his feet ; and to kill the fatted calf, that they might eat 
and be merry ; " for this, my son," said he, " was dead, and is alive 
again : he was lost, and is found." 

During this transaction, the elder brother was in the field, properly 
employed in his father's business; but returning from thence, and 
hearing the sound of mirth, music, and dancing, he called one 
of the servants, and asked what these things meant. The servant 
replied, that his younger brother was returned, and that his father 
had killed the fatted calf, because he had received him safe and 
sound. 

This news greatly displeased the elder son ; he was very angry, 
and refused to go in ; upon which his father came out and entreated 
him : but he replied, " Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither 
transgressed I at any time thy commandment, and yet thou never 
gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends : but 
as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living 
with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf." Luke 
xv. 29, etc. 

His father, with the most amiable condescending tenderness, re- 
plied : " Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine : it 
was meet that we should make merry and be glad : for this thy 
brother was dead, and is alive again ; and was lost, and is found." 
Though he hath devoured my living with harlots, yet he is both thy 



THE LIFE OF 



239 




GREAT QUARRY UNDER JERUSALEM. 

brother and my son ; thou shouldst not, therefore, be angry, because 
he has repented and is returned, after we thought him irrecoverably 
lost. 

Thus beautifully did our Lord represent the work of grace on the 
heart of man, from the first conviction of sin to the absolute con- 
fession of it ; showing, at the same time, there can be no true 
confession without a thorough consciousness of guilt, a sense of our 



240 



THE LIFE OP CHRIST. 



lost state, and an entire reliance on the mercy of God, through Christ 
our Lord. 

There are three expositions given of this instructive representation, 
each of which seems to have some place in the original design ; for it 
should be observed, and carefully remembered, that the parables, and 
doctrines of our Saviour, are by no means to be confined absolutely 
to one single point of view, since they frequently have relation to 
different objects, and consequently prove the riches and depth of the 
manifold wisdom of God. 

In this parable, for instance, the great and principal doctrine in- 
tended to be particularly inculcated is, that sinners, upon their re- 
pentance and faith, are gladly received into favor ; or, that there is 
joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. There are, however, 
two other expositions of this jDarable ; the first is that of the greatest 
part of the ancients, who expound it of Adam. He was made in the 
image of God, and endowed with many other excellent gifts, which 
he might have used happily, had he been content to stay in his 
Father's house, but like this younger brother, who foolishly desired 
his portion of goods to himself, that he might be his own master, and 
under no confinement or restriction, he was unwilling to remain un- 
der the obedience of the divine precept: he was desirous of having a 
free use of things in paradise, and, by the devil's instigation, affected 
a wretched independency, which caused him to break the divine 
command, and eat of the forbidden tree, to obtain the knowledge of 
good and evil. Thus he lost for himself and his posterity the sub- 
stance put at first into his possession : but his heavenly Father, on 
his and his posterity's return, hath provided such grace and compas- 
sion for them, that they may be reinstated in their former place and 
favor. And the same grace not being granted to the higher order of 
intellectual beings, the fallen spirits, is the cause of their murmuring 
against God and men, represented by the answer of the elder brother 
in this parable. * 

Others, secondly, with a much greater show of probability, expound 
this parable of the tw r o people, the Jews and Gentiles, who have but 
one Father, even God; and while they both continued in their 
Father's house, the true church, they wanted for nothing : there was 
plenty of food for the soul, there was substance enough for them 
both. But the latter, represented by the younger brother, possessed 
of his share of knowledge, went into a strange country, left God, and 
spent his substance, the evidence and knowledge of the Almighty, 



■ 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



241 



fell into idolatry, and wasted all he had in riotous living — all his 
knowledge of God in the loose and absurd ceremonies of idolatry. 
Then behold a mighty famine arose in that land, the worship of the 
true God was banished the country. In this dreadfuL dearth, and 
hunger, he joined himself to the devil, and worked all "uncleanness 
with greediness:" But finding nothing to satisfy his spiritual hun- 
ger, this prodigal, long estranged from his Father, reflecting on his 
spiritual famine and his own severe wants, humbly confessed his 
faults, returned to his offended Father, was re-admitted into favor, 
and blessed with the privileges of the gospel. But the elder brother, 
the Jewish church, daily employed in the field of legal ceremonies, 
.and who had long groaned under the yoke of the law, seeing the 
Gentiles received into the covenant of the gospel, obtain the remission 
of sins and the hopes of everlasting life, murmured against the be- 
nevolent acts of the Almighty. God, however, out of his great com- 
passion, pleaded pathetically the cause with the elder brother, offered 
him all things, upon supposition of his continuing in his obedience, 
and declared that he had delivered the nation from the heavy yoke 
of the ceremonial law. 

Thus the parable has a very clear and elegant exposition ; the mur- 
muring of the elder brother is explained to us without the least diffi- 
culty; and as the offence of receiving the Gentiles to pardon and 
peace, through Jesus Christ, was so great a stumbling-block to the 
Jews, it is natural to imagine that our Saviour intended to obviate 
and remove it by this excellent parable. 

It is, however, evident, both from the context and the occasion 
of delivering it, that the third interpretation is the first in design 
and importance. The publicans and sinners drew near to hear 
Jesus. 

This gave occasion to a murmuring among the Pharisees; and, 
upon their murmuring, our Saviour delivered this and two other 
parables, to show, that if they would resemble God and the celestial 
host, they should, instead of murmuring, rejoice at seeing sinners 
willing to embrace the doctrines of the gospel ; because there is joy 
in the presence of God and his angels over one sinner that repenteth, 
more than over ninety and nine just persons that "need no re- 
pentance." 

The obstinacy and malicious temper ol the Pharisees, who opposed 
every good doctrine, made a deep impression on the spirit of the 
blessed Jesus; he did not, therefore, content himself barely with jus- 
16 



242 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



tifying his receiving sinners, in order to their being justified and 
saved through him, but, in the presence of the Scribes and Pharisees, 
turned himself to his disciples, and delivered the parable of the art- 
ful steward, as an instance of the improvements made by the children 
of this world, in embracing every opportunity and advantage for im- 
proving their interests. 

u There was," said he, " a certain rich man, which had a steward, 
and the same was accused unto him, that he had wasted his goods. 
And he called him and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of 
thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer 
steward." Luke xvi. 1, 2. 

This reprimand of his lord, and the inward conviction of his own 
conscience that the accusation was just, induced him to reflect on his 
own ill management of his lord's affairs, and in what manner he 
should support himself when he should be discharged from his ser- 
vice. " What shall I do," said he, " for my lord taketh away from 
me the stewardship ? I cannot dig, to beg, I am ashamed." In this 
manner he deliberated with himself, and at last resolved on the fol- 
lowing expedient, in order to make himself friends, who Would succor 
him in his distress. "I am resolved what to do, that when I am put 
out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So 
he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto 
the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? and he said an 
hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and 
sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And 
how much owest thou ? And he said, An hundred measures of 
wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill and write fourscore." 
Luke xvi. 4, etc. 

To illustrate this parable, we beg leave to observe, that the riches 
and trade of the Jews originally consisted principally in the products 
of the earth ; they were, if we may be allowed the expression, a nation 
of farmers and shepherds ; so that their wealth chiefly arose from the 
produce of their flocks and herbs, and the fruits of the earth ; their 
corn, their wine, and their oil. 

Thus the steward, to secure the friendship of his lord's tenants, 
bound them to him under a lasting obligation ; and the master, when 
he heard the proceedings of his steward, commended him, not because 
he had acted honestly, but because he had acted wisely : he commended 
the art and address he had shown, in procuring future subsistence ; he 
commended the prudence and ingenuity he had used with regard to 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



243 



his own private interest, and to deliver from future poverty and dis- 
tress. " For the children of this world," added the blessed Jesus, 
" are in their generation wiser than the children of light." They are 
more prudent and careful, more anxious and circumspect to secure 
their possessions in this world, than the children of light are to secure 
in the next an eternal inheritance. " And I say unto you, make to 
yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness ; that, when ye 
fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations." Luke xvi. 
9. This advice of our Saviour is worthy our most serious atten- 
tion ; the best use we can make of our riches being to employ them in 
promoting the salvation of others. For if we use our abilities and in* 
terests in turning sinners from the evil of their ways ; if we spend om 
wealth in this excellent service, from pure motives and to the glory 
of God, we shall have the good will of all the heavenly beings, who 
will greatly rejoice at the conversion of sinners, and with open arms 
receive us into the mansions of felicity. 

But this is not the whole application our Saviour made of this para- 
ble. He added, that if Ave made use of our riches in the manner he 
recommended, from a principle of love to God and men, we should be 
received into those everlasting habitations, where all the friends of 
virtue and religion reside; because, by our fidelity in managing the 
small trust of temporal advantages committed to our care, we show 
ourselves capable of a much greater trust in heavenly employments. 
But if, on the contrary, we do not apply our riches to the glory of God 
and the good of mankind, we shall be forever banished from the 
abode of the blessed, because in behaving unfaithfully in the small 
trust committed to us here, we render ourselves both unworthy and 
incapable of a share in this everlasting inheritance. "He that is 
faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much : and he that is 
unjust in the least, is unjust also in much. If, therefore, ye have not 
been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your 
trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which 
is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own ? Luke 
xvi. 10, etc. And if, while ye are God's stewards and servants, ye 
desert your trust, and become slaves to the desire of riches, you can 
expect no other than to be called to a strict account of your steward- 
ship ; covetousness being as absolutely inconsistent with a true concern 
for the cause of Christ, as it is for a man to undertake at one and the 
same time to serve two masters of contrary dispositions and opposite 
interests. " No servant can serve two masters : for either he will hate 



244 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



the one, and love the other ; or else he will hold to the one, and 
despise the- other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Luke 
xvi. 13. 

The hypocritical Pharisees treated this observation with derision : 
to which our Lord replied : " Ye are they which j ustify yourselves 
before men ; but God knoweth your hearts : for that which is highly 
esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God." Luke 
xvi. 15. 

Such is the parable, and such is our Lord's application of it, from 
whence the main intention and design of it is very evident. It was 
intended to incite us to a zealous concern for our future and eternal 
state, by making a due use of the means of grace, and working out 
our own salvation with fear and trembling, yet remembering that it is 
God who worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good pleas- 
ure. And if we thus employ our spiritual talents, we shall, through 
the merits of Jesus Christ, joyfully stand at the right hand of the 
great J udge of all the earth, and receive from him a public testimony 
of our faith and love. " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the 
kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world ; for I 
was an hungered, and ye gave me meat, I was thirsty, and ye gave me 
drink ; I was a stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, and ye clothed 
me : I was sick, and ye visited me : I was in prison, and ye came unto 
me." Matt. xxv. 34. 




THE PRODIGAL'S RETURN. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



245 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

JESUS REBUKES THE INSOLENT DERISION OF THE PHARISEES — DESCRIBES BY A 
PARABLE THE NATURE OF FUTURE REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS J AND EN- 
FORCES THE DOCTRINE OF MUTUAL FORBEARANCE. 

The doctrines lately delivered by our Lord, being so repugnant to 
the avaricious principles of the Pharisees, they attended to the doc- 
trine of our Saviour with regard to the true use of riches, and the 
impossibility of men serving God and mammon, at the same time they 
derided him as a visionary speculatist, who despised the pleasures of 
this world, for no other reason but because he was not able to procure 
them. It is, therefore, no wonder, that men who had showed such a 
complication of the very worst dispositions, should receive a sharp 
rebuke from the meek and humble Jesus : accordingly, he told them 
that they made, indeed, specious pretences to extraordinary sanc- 
tity, by outwardly shunning the company of sinners, while in private 
they made no scruple of having society with them, or even of joining 
with them in their wickedness, " Ye are they which justify yourselves 
before men, but God knoweth your hearts." Ye may, indeed, cover 
the foulness of your crimes with the painted cloak of hypocrisy, and 
in this disguise deceive those who look no farther than the outside, 
but ye cannot screen your wickedness from the penetrating eye of 
Omnipotence, to whom all things are naked and exposed, and who 
judges of things, not by their appearances, but according to truth ; it 
is, therefore, no wonder that he often abhors both persons and things, 
that are held by men in the highest estimation : " for that w^iich is 
highly esteemed among men, is abomination in the sight of God." 
This affected sanctity, while the mind is unrenewed, is an abomina- 
tion to the God of purity and truth. Christ detested hypocrisy, and 
frequented the company of publicans and sinners, to bring about their 
conversion ; the Mosaic dispensation, which made a difference between 
men, ceasing when John the Baptist first preached the doctrine of re- 
pentance ; and the gospel dispensation, which admits all repenting 
sinners, without distinction, then commenced. " The law and the 
prophets were until John : since that time the kingdom of God is 
preached, and every man pressetb into it." Luke xvi. 16. Think 



246 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



not that I mean to destroy, but to fulfil the law, which is of essential 
obligation ; for till the law is abrogated, the least of its precepts cannot 
be neglected. " It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than for one 
tittle of the law to fail." Luke xvi. 17. 

After treating of these particulars, he proceeded to consider the love 
of pleasure, so highly valued by the Pharisees, whose lust discovered 
itself by their frequent divorces, a practice which our blessed Saviour 
justly condemned. " Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth 
another, commiteth adultery : and whosoever marrieth her that is put 
away from her husband committeth adultery." Luke xvi. 18. 

These reasons were clear and unanswerable : but the Pharisees, stupi- 
fied and intoxicated with sensual pleasures, were deaf to every argu- 
ment, how powerful soever, provided it was levelled against their 
lusts. In order to illustrate this truth, confirm his assertion, and 
rouse these hypocritical rulers from their lethargy, he delivered the 
awakening parable of the rich man and the beggar. 

" There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and 
fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day : and there was a certain 
beggar, named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and 
desiring tc be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's 
table : moreover," so great was his misery, so exquisite his distress, 
"the dogs came and licked his sores." Thus afflicted in life, the Al- 
mighty at last released him : " the beggar died, and was carried by the 
angels into Abraham's bosom." Nor could the rich man's wealth 
rescue him from the same fate, " the rich man also died, and was 
buried." But behold now the great, the awful change. " In hell he 
lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, 
and " the late despised and afflicted " Lazarus in his bosom." In this 
agony of pain and distress, he cried to Abraham, his earthly father, 
begging that he would take pity on him, and send Lazarus to give 
him even the least degree of relief, that of dipping the tip of his finger 
in water to cool his tongue, for his torment was intolerable. " Father 
Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the 
tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue ; for I am tormented in 
this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy life- 
time receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things : 
but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And besides all 
this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed : so that they which 
would pass from hence to you cannot ; neither can they pass to us that 
would come from thence." Luke xvi. 24, etc. 




CHRIST RAISING LAZARUS. 



247 



» 

248 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



The miserable wretch, finding it impossible to procure any relief for 
himself, was desirous of preserving his thoughtless relations from the 
like distress : " Then he said, I pray thee, therefore, father, that thou 
wouldst send him to'my father's house ; for I have five brethren : that 
he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of tor- 
ment." This also was a petition that could not be granted. It is too 
late to hope for relief, when the soul is cast into the bottomless pit. 
They may learn, said Abraham, the certainty of the immortality of 
the soul from the books of Moses and the prophets, if they will give 
themselves the trouble to peruse them attentively. To which the 
miserable object replied, that the books of Moses and the prophets had 
been ineffectual to him, and he feared would be so to his brethren. 
But if one actually arose from the dead, and appeared to them, they 
would certainly repent, and embrace those offers of salvation they had 
before slighted. " Nay, father Abraham : but if one went unto them 
from the dead, they will repent/' But Abraham told him, that in this 
he was greatly mistaken; for that if they refused to believe the evidences 
of a future state contained in the writings of Moses and the prophets, 
the testimony of a messenger from the dead would not be sufficient to 
convince them. " If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither 
will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." 

Having thus reprimanded the Pharisees, he took occasion to 
speak of affronts and offences, described their evil nature, and 
their dreadful punishment. " It is impossible but that offences will 
come : but woe unto him through whom they come ! It were better 
for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast 
into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones," 
Luke xvii. 1, 2. 

That is, the children of God, the followers of the Lamb, must meet 
with disgrace, reviling, and persecution here ; but woe unto those who 
revile and persecute them ! they had better undergo the worst of tem- 
poral judgments than the awful one which shall ensue. 

He spake also against a quarrelsome temper in his servants, espe- 
cially in the ministers and teachers of religion, prescribed a seasonable 
and prudent reprehension of the fault, accompanied with forgiveness 
on the part of the person injured, as the best means of disarming the 
temptation that may arise from thence. " Take heed to yourselves : 
if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him ; and if he repent, 
forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in s»-4ay, 



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CEDAR OF LEBANON. 



and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent ; thoir 
shalt forgive him." Luke xvii. 3, 4. 

It should be observed here, that this discourse on forgiveness, ut- 
tered at a time when the Pharisees had just accused him falsely, by 
calling him a false teacher, sufficiently proves how truly he forgave 
them all the personal injuries they had committed against him; and 



250 



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should be a powerful recommendation of that amiable disposition 
which leads to the forgiveness of injuries. 

But however beautiful these discourses of our Saviour appear, 
when examined with attention, they seem to have staggered the faith 
of his disciples and followers ; perhaps they still imagined that he 
would shortly erect a temporal kingdom, and distribute among them 
the rewards they expected for their services. If so, they might well 
desire their Master " to increase their faith;" as discourses like these 
had a very different tendency from what might naturally have been 
expected from one who was going to establish the throne of David, 
and extend his sceptre over all the kingdoms of the earth ; but how- 
ever this be, our Saviour told them, that if they had the smallest 
degree of true faith, it would be sufficient for overcoming all tempta- 
tions, even those which seem as difficult to be conquered as the 
plucking up trees, and planting them in the ocean. " If ye had faith 
as a grain of mustard-seed, ye might say unto this sycamine-tree, Be 
thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea ; and it 
should obey you." Luke xvii. 6. 




AN EASTERN CARAVAN HALTING. 



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251 



CHAPTER XXV. 

OUR LORD IS APPLIED TO IN BEHALF OF POOR LAZARUS — CURES TEN PERSONS 
OF THE" LEPROSY IN SAMARIA, AND RESTORES LAZARUS TO LIFE. 

Soon after our blessed Saviour had finished these discourses, one 
of his friends, named Lazarus, fell sick at Bethany, a village about 
two miles from the countries beyond Jordan, where Jesus was now 
preaching the gospel. The sisters of Lazarus finding his sickness 
was of a dangerous kind, thought proper to send an account of it to 
Jesus ; being firmly persuaded that he who had cured so many stran- 
gers would readily come and give health to one whom he loved in so 
tender a manner. " Lord/' said they, " behold he whom thou lovest 
is sick : " they did not add, come down and heal him ; make haste 
and save him from the grave ; it was sufficient for them to relate their 
necessities to their Lord, who* was both able and willing to help them 
in their distress. 

" When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death." 
This declaration of the benevolent Jesus, being carried to the sisters 
of Lazarus, must have strangely surprised them, and exercised both 
their and his disciples' faith; since it is probable that before the 
messenger arrived at Bethany, Lazarus had expired. Soon after, 
Jesus positively assured his disciples that Lazarus was dead. 

The evangelist, in the beginning of this account, tells us that Jesus 
loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus ; and also that after he 
had received the message, he remained two days in the same place 
where he was. His design in this might be to intimate that his 
lingering so long after the message came did not proceed from a want 
•of concern for his friends, but happened according to the counsels of 
his own wisdom. For the length of time which Lazarus lay in the 
grave, put his death beyond all possibility of doubt, removed every 
suspicion of fraud, and consequently afforded Jesus a fit opportunity 
of displaying the love he bore to Lazarus, as well as his own divine 
power, in his undoubted resurrection from the dead. His sisters, in- 
deed, were by this means kept awhile in painful anxiety, on account 
of their brother's life, and, at last, pierced by the sorrows of seeing 
him die : yet they must surely think themselves abundantly recom^ 



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253 



pensed, by the evidence accruing to the gospel from this astonishing 
miracle, as well as by the inexpressible surprise of joy they felt, when 
they again received their brother from the dead. 

Jesus having declared his resolution of returning into Judea, 
Thomas conceiving nothing less than destruction from such a journey, 
yet unwilling to forsake his Master, said, " Let us also go, that we 
may die with him." Let us not forsake our Master in this danger- 
ous journey, but accompany him into Judea, that if the Jews, whose 
inveteracy we are well acquainted with, should take away his life, we 
may also expire with him. 

The journey to Judea being thus resolved on, Jesus departed with 
his disciples, and in his way to Bethany passed through Samaria and 
Galilee. " And as he entered into a certain village, there met him 
ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: and they lifted up 
their voices, and said, Jesus., Master, have mercy on us. And when 
he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. 
And it came to pass, that, as they went they were cleansed." Luke 
xvii. 12. etc. Among these miserable objects, one of them was a na- 
tive of the country, who perceiving that his cure was completed, came 
back praising God for the great mercy he had received : he had before 
kept at a distance from our Saviour, but being now sensible that he 
was entirely clean, approached his benefactor, that all might have an 
•opportunity of beholding the miracle, and fell on his face at his feet, 
thanking him in the most humble manner, for his condescension in 
healing him of so terrible a disease. 

Jesus, in order to intimate that those who were enlightened with 
the knowledge of the truth, ought, at least, to have shown as great a 
sense of piety and gratitude as this Samaritan, asked, "Were there 
not ten cleansed ? where are the nine ? There are not found that re- 
turned to give glory to God, save this stranger." Luke xvii. 17, 18. 

Jesus and his disciples now continued their journey towards Beth- 
any, where he was informed by some of the inhabitants of that village 
that Lazarus was not only dead, as he had foretold, but had now lain 
in the grave four days. The afflicted sisters were overwhelmed with 
sorrow, so that many of the Jews from Jerusalem came to comfort 
them concerning their brother. 

It seems the news of our Lord's coming had reached Bethany, be- 
fore he arrived at that village ; for Martha, the sister of Lazarus, 
being informed of his approach, went out and met him; but Mary, 
who was of a more melancholy and contemplative disposition, sat still 



254 THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



in the house. No sooner was she come into the presence of Jesus r 
than in an excess of grief she poured forth her complaints, " Lord/' 
said she, " If thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." If 
thou hadst complied with the message we sent thee, I well know that 
thy interest from heaven had prevailed, my brother had been cured 
of his disease, and delivered from the chambers of the grave. 

Martha, doubtless, entertained a high opinion of our Saviour's 
power ; she believed that death did not dare to approach his presence, 
and, consequently, if Jesus had arrived at Bethany before her brother's 
dissolution, he had not fallen a victim to the king of terrors ; but she 
imagined that it was not in his power to heal the sick at a distance ; 
though, at the same time, she seemed to have some dark and imperfect 
hopes that our blessed Lord would still do something for her. " But 
I know," said she, " that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, 
God will give it thee." She thought that Jesus could obtain whatso- 
ever he desired by prayer ; and therefore did not found her hopes on 
his power, but on the power of God, through his intercession. She 
doubtless knew that the great Redeemer of mankind had raised the 
daughter of Jairus and the widow's son at Nain, from the dead ; but 
seems to have considered her brother's resurrection as much more 
difficult ; probably because he had been longer dead. 

But Jesus, who was willing to encourage this imperfect faith of 
Martha, answered, " Thy brother shall rise again." As these words 
were delivered in an indefinite sense with regard to time, Martha 
understood them only as an argument of consolation, drawn from the 
general resurrection, and accordingly answered, " I know that he shall 
rise again in the resurrection at the last day." She was firmly pev-* 
suaded of that important article of the Christian faith, the resurrection 
of the dead ; at which important hour she believed her brother would 
rise from the chambers of the dust. 

And here she seems to have terminated all her hopes, not thinking 
that the Son of God would call her brother from the sleep of death. 
Jesus, therefore, to instruct her in this great truth, replied, " I am the 
resurrection and the life." I am the author of the resurrection, the 
fountain and giver of that life they shall then receive, and therefore 
can, with the same ease, raise the dead now as at the last day. " He 
that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live : and 
whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believeth ♦ 
thou this ?" To which Martha answered, " Yea, Lord : I believe that 
thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the 



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255 



world." I believe that thou art the true Messiah/ so long promised 
by the prophets, and therefore believe thou art capable of performing 
every instance of power thou art pleased to claim. 

Martha now seemed to entertain some confused expectations of her 
brother's immediate resurrection ; and, leaving Jesus in the field, ran 
and called her sister, according to his order, being willing that both 
Mary and her companions should be witnesses of this stupendous 
miracle. Mary no sooner heard that Jesus was come, than she imme- 
diately left her Jewish comforters, who only increased the weight of 
her grief, and flew to her Saviour : and the Jews, who suspected she 
was going to weep over the gra ve of her brother, followed her to that 
great Prophet, who was going to remove all her sorrows. 

Thus the Jews, who came from Jerusalem to comfort the two 
mournful sisters, were brought to the grave of Lazarus, and made 
witnesses of his resurrection. As soon as Mary approached the great 
Redeemer of mankind she fell prostrate at his feet, and in a flood of 
tears poured out her complaint : " Lord, if thou hadst been here, my 
brother had not* died." No wonder the compassionate Jesus was 
moved at so affecting a scene : on his side stood Martha, pouring forth 
a flood of tears, at his feet lay the affectionate Mary, weeping and 
lamenting her dear departed brother ; while the Jews who came to* 
comfort the afflicted sisters, unable to confine their grief, joined the 
solemn mourning, and mixed their friendly tears in witness of their 
love for the departed Lazarus, and in testimony to the justice of the 
sisters' grief for the loss of so amiable, so deserving a brother. 

Jesus could not behold the affliction of the two sisters and their 
friends without having a share in it himself : his heart was melted at 
the mournful scene, " he groaned in spirit, and was troubled." To 
remove the doubts and fears of these pious women, he asked them 
where they had buried Lazarus : not that he was ignorant where the 
body of the deceased was laid : he who knew that he was dead when 
so far distant from him, and could raise him up by a single word, 
must know where his remains were deposited ; to which they answered, 
" Lord, come and see." 

The Son of God, now, to prove that he was not only God but a 
most compassionate man, and to show us that the tender affections of 
a human heart, Avhen kept in due bounds — that friendly sorrow, when 
not immoderate, and directed to proper ends, is consistent with the 
highest sanctity of the soul, joined in the general mourning. He 



256 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



wept, even at the time that he was going to give the most ample 
proof of his divinity. 

By his weeping, the Jews were convinced that he loved Lazarus 
exceedingly; but some of them interpreted this circumstance to his 
disadvantage ; for, according to their mean way of judging, they fan- 
cied that he had suffered him to fall by the stroke of death, for no 
other reason in the world but for want of power to rescue him. And 
thinking the miracle said to have been wrought on the blind men, at 
the feast of tabernacles, at least as difficult as the curing an acute dis- 
temper, they called the former in question, because the latter had been 
neglected. " Could not this man/' said they, " which opened the 
eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have 
died?" 

Our Lord, regardless of their question, but grieved at the hardness 
of their hearts, and blindness of their infidelity, groaned again within 
himself, as he walked towards the sepulchre of the dead. At his 
coming to the grave, he said, " Take ye away the stone." To which 
Martha answered, " Lord, by this time he stinketh : -for he hath been 
dead four days ;" or as the passage may be better rendered, hath lain 
in the grave four days. She meant to insinuate that her brother's 
resurrection was not now to be expected. But Jesus gave her a sol- 
emn reproof, to teach her that there was nothing impossible with 
God ; and that the power of the Almighty is not to be circumscribed 
within the narrow bounds of human reason, " Said I not unto thee, 
that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God ?" 
i. e., Have but faith, and I will display before thee the power of 
Omnipotence. 

The objections of Martha being thus obviated, she, with the rest, 
waited the great event in silence; and, in pursuance of the command 
of the Son of God, took away the stone from the place where the dead 
was laid. Jesus had, on many occasions, publicly appealed to his own 
miracles as the proofs of his mission, though he did not generally 
make a formal address to his Father, before he worked those miracles. 
But being now to raise Lazarus from the dead, he prayed for his resur- 
rection, to convince the spectators that it could not be effected without 
an immediate interposition of the divine power. " Father," said he, 
" I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou 
nearest me always : but because of the people which stand by I said 
it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me." John xi. 41, etc. 
I entertained no doubt of thy empowering me to do this miracle, and 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



251 



therefore did not pray for my own sake ; I well knew that thou near- 
est me always. I prayed for the sake of the people, to convince them 
that thou lovest me, hast sent me, and are continually with me. 

After returning thanks to his Father, for this opportunity of dis- 
playing his glory, " He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come 
forth !" This loud and efficacious call of the Son of God awakened 
the dead ; the breathless clay was instantly reanimated ; and he who 
had lain four days in the tomb obeyed immediately the powerful 
sound. " And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot 
with grave-clothes ; and his face was bound about with a napkin, 
Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go." 

It would have been the least part of the miracle, had Jesus, by his 
powerful word, unloosed the napkins wherewitl; Lazarus was bound; 
but he brought him out in the same manner as he was lying, and 
•ordered the spectators to loose him, that they might be the better con- 
vinced of the miracle ; for, in taking off the grave-clothes they had 
the fullest evidence both of his death and resurrection ; for, on the 
one hand, the manner in which he was swathed must soon have killed 
him, had he been alive when buried ; which consequently demon- 
strated, beyond all exception, that Lazarus had been dead several 
days, before Jesus called him again to life. Besides, in stripping him, 
the linen probably offered, both to their eyes and smell, abundant 
proofs of his putrefaction ; and by that means convinced them that he 
had not been in a delirium, but was really dead ; on the other hand, 
iby his lively countenance, appearing when the napkin was removed, 
his fresh color, and his active vigor, those who came near and 
handled him must be convinced that he was in perfect health, and had 
an opportunity of proving the truth of the miracle by the closest ex- 
amination. 

There is something extremely beautiful in our Lord's behavior on 
this occasion : he did not utter one upbraiding word, either to the 
doubting sisters or the malicious Jews, nor did he let fall one word of 
triumph or exultation. " Loose him, and let him go/' were the only 
words we have recorded. He was in this, as on all other occasions, 
consistent with himself, a pattern of perfect humility and modesty. 

Such was the astonishing work wrought by the Son of God, at 
Bethany ; and in the resurrection of Lazarus, thus corrupted and thus 
raised by the powerful call of Jesus, we have a striking emblem and 
a glorious earnest of the resurrection of our bodies from the grave at 
the last day, when the same powerful mandate which spoke Lazarus 
17 



95,9 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



again into beings shall collect the scattered particles of our bodies, and 
raise them to immortality. 

Such an extraordinary power displayed before the face of a multi- 
tude, and near to Jerusalem, even overcame the prejudices of some of 
the most obstinate among them. Many believed that Jesus could be 
no other than the great Messiah so long promised ; though others, who 
still expected a temporal prince, and w T ere therefore unwilling to ac- 
knowledge him for their Saviour, were filled with indignation, par- 
ticularly the chief priests and elders. But this miracle, as well as all 
the rest he had wrought in confirmation of his mission, was too evi- 
dent to be denied : and, therefore, they pretended that his whole in- 
tention was to establish a new sect in religion, which would endanger 
both their church and, nation. " Then gathered the chief priests and 
the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we ? for this man doeth 
many miracles. If Ave let him thus alone, all men will believe on 
him ; and the Romans shall come, and take away both our place and 
nation." John xi. 47, etc. 

The common people, astonished at his miracles, will, if we do not 
take care to prevent it, certainly set him up for the Messiah ; and the 
Romans, under pretence of a rebellion, will deprive us both of our lib- 
erty and religion. Accordingly, they came to a resolution to put him 
to death. This resolution was not, however, unanimous, for Nico- 
demus, Joseph of Arimathea, and other disciples of our Saviour, then 
members of the council, urged the injustice of what they proposed to 
do, from the consideration of his miracles and innocence. But Caia- 
phas, the high-priest, from a principle of human policy, told them, 
that the nature of government often required certain acts of injustice 
in order to procure the safety of the state. " Ye know nothing at all, 
nor consider that it is expedient for us that one man die for the peo- 
ple, and that the whole nation perish not." John xi. 49, 50. 

The council having thas determined to put Jesus to death, deliber- 
ated for the future only upon the best methods of affecting it ; and in 
all probability agreed to issue a proclamation, promising a reward to 
any person who would deliver him into their hands. 

For this reason our blessed Saviour did not now go up to Jerusalem, 
though he was within two miles of it ; but went to Ephraim, a city on 
the borders of the wilderness, where he abode with his disciples, being 
unwilling to go too far into the country, because the passover at which 
he was to suffer was now at hand. 



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259 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE GREAT PEOPHET OP ISRAEL FORETELLS THE RUIN OP THE JEWISH STATE, 
ENFORCES MANY IMPORTANT DOCTRINES BY PARABLE— BLESSES THE CHILDREN 
AS EMBLEMS OF THE HEAVENLY AND CHRISTIAN TEMPER AND DISPOSITION. 

While the blessed Jesus remained in retirement on the borders of 
the wilderness, he was desired by some of the Pharisees to inform 
them, when the Messiah's kingdom would commence. Nor is their 
anxiety on that account matter of surprise, for as they entertained very 
exalted notions of his coming in pomp and magnificence, it was nat- 
ural for them to be very desirous of having his empire speedily 
erected. 

But our Saviour, to correct this mistaken notion, told them, that 
the Messiah's kingdom did not consist in any external form of gov- 
ernment, erected in some particular country by the terror of arms and 
the desolation of war, but in the subjection of the minds of men, and 
in rendering them conformable to the laws of the Almighty, which 
was to be effected by a new dispensation of religion, and this dispen- 
sation was already begun. It was, therefore, needless for them to 
seek in this or that place for the kingdom of God, as it had been al- 
ready preached among them by Christ and his apostles, and confirmed 
by innumerable miracles. " The kingdom of God/' said he, " cometh 
not with observation : neither shall they say, Lo here ! or, Lo 
there ! for, behold the kingdom of God is within you." 'Luke xvii, 
20, 21. 

Having thus addressed the Pharisees, he turned himself to his dis- 
ciples, and, in the hearing of all the people, prophesied the destruction 
of the Jewish state ; whose constitution, both religious and civil, was 
the chief difficulty that opposed the erection of his kingdom. But 
because love and compassion were eminent parts of our Saviour's tem- 
per, he mentioned that dreadful catastrophe in such a manner as might 
tend to the reformation and profit of his hearers. 

He informed them that the prelude to this final destruction would 
be a state of universal distress ; when they should passionately wish 
for the personal presence of the Messiah to comfort them, but would 
be denied liieir request. " The days will come when ye shall desire 



260 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it." He 
next cautioned them against those who shall recommend different 
ways of escaping the awful catastrophe, but are utterly unable : " And 
they shall say to you, See here ; or, See there : go not after them, nor 
follow them. For as the lightning, that lightneth out of the one part 
under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven ; so shall 
also the Son of man be in his day. But first must he suffer 
many things, and be rejected of this generation/' Luke xvii. 
23, etc. 

The coming of the Son of man shall be sudden and unexpected. 
He will come in his own strength, and with great power ; he will throw 
down all oppositions, destroy his enemies with swift destruction, and es- 
tablish his religion and government in a great part of the world, as sud- 
denly as lightning darts from one part of the heavens to the other. 
But before these things come to pass, he must suffer many things, and 
be rejected of this generation. 

Notwithstanding this sudden destruction and calamity that was to 
overwhelm the Jews, he told them their stupidity would be equal to 
that of the old world, at the time of the deluge, or that of Sodom be- 
fore the city was destroyed : " And as it was in the days of ISoe, so 
shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they 
drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the 
day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed 
them all. Likewise, also, as it was in the days of Lot ; they did eat, 
they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but 
the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone 
from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the 
day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which 
shall be upon the house-top, and his stuff in the house, let him 
not come down to take it away : and he that is in the field, let him 
likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife." Luke xvii. 
26, etc. 

A more proper example than that of Lot's wife could not have 
been produced ; for if any of his hearers, through an immoderate love 
of the world, should be prevailed on, in order to save their goods, af- 
ter they were admonished from heaven of their danger, by the signs 
which prognosticated the destruction of Jerusalem ; or if any of them, 
through want of faith, should think that the calamities predicted to 
fall on the nation, would not be either so great or sudden as he had 
declared, and did not use the precaution of a speedy flight, they might 



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261 



behold in Lot's wife an example both oi their sin and of their pun- 
ishment. He added, that those who were anxiously desirous of pre- 
serving life, from an attachment to its pleasures and vanities, should 
lose it ; whereas those who were willing to lay down their lives in his 
cause should preserve them eternally. " Whosoever shall seek to 
save his life shall lose it ; and whosoever shall lose his life shall pre- 
serve it." Luke xvii. 33. 

Having foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, our blessed Saviour 
spake the following parable, in order to excite them to a constant per- 
severance in prayer, and not to be so weary and faint in their minds, 
as to neglect or wholly omit this necessary duty. There was in a city, 
said the Saviour of the world, a judge, who being governed by athe- 
istical principles, he had no regard to the precepts of religion, and 
being very powerful, did not regard what was said of him by any 
man; so that all his decisions were influenced merely by passion or 
interest. In the same city was also a widow, who having no friends 
to assist her, was absolutely unable to defend herself from injuries, or 
procure redress for any she had received. In this deplorable situation 
she had recourse to the unjust judge, in order to obtain satisfaction 
for some oppressive wrong she had lately received ; but the judge was 
so abandoned to pleasure, that he refused, for a time, to listen to her 
request ; he would not give himself the trouble to examine her case, 
though the crying injustice pleaded so powerfully for this distressed 
widow. She was not, however, intimidated by his refusal ; she inces- 
santly importuned him, till, by repeated representations of her dis- 
tress, she filled his mind with such displeasing ideas, that he was 
obliged to do her justice, merely to free himself from her importunity. 

" Though," said he to himself, " I fear not God, nor regard man ; 
yet, because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her 
continual coming she weary me." Luke xviii. 4, 5. 

" Hear," said the blessed Jesus, " what the unjust judge saith. 
And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night 
unto him, though he bear long with them ? I tell you that he will 
avenge them speedily." Luke xviii. 6, etc. 

As if he had said, If this judge, though destitute of the fear either 
of God or man, was thus prompted to espouse the cause of the widow, 
shall not a righteous God, the Father of his people, avenge on the 
wicked the many evils they have done unto them, though he bear long 
with them. Certainly he will, and that in a most awful manner. 

Our blessed Saviour having thus enforced the duty of prayer, in 



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THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



this expressive parable, asked the following apposite questions: 
"Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometk, shall he find faith on the 
earth ? " As if he had said, Notwithstanding all the miracles I have 
wrought, and the excellent doctrines I have delivered, shall I find, at 
my coming again, that faith among the children of men there is rea- 
son to expect? Will not most of them be found to have abandoned 
the faith, and wantonly ask, " Where is the promise of his coming." 

The blessed Jesus next rebuked the self-righteous Pharisees. But 
as these particulars are better illustrated by their opposites, he placed 
the character of this species of men in oppositiou to those of the hum- 
ble; describing the reception each class met with from the Almighty, 
in a parable of the Pharisee and publican, who went up together to 
the temple, at the time when the sacrifice was offered, to direct their 
petitions to the God of their fathers. 

The Pharisee, having a high opinion of his own righteousness, 
went far into the court of the. temple, that he might be as near the 
place of the divine residence as possible. Here he offered his prayer, 
giving God the praise of his supposed righteousness ; and had he been 
possessed of any he would have acted properly. " God," said he, "I 
thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adul- 
terers, or even as this publican : I fast twice in the week, I give tithes 
of all that I possess." Having thus commended himself to God, he 
wrapped himself up in his own righteousness, and giving the poor 
publican a scornful look, walked away, perhaps to transgress some of 
the weightier matters of the law, judgment, justice, and truth, and to 
devour the houses of distressed widows and helpless orphans. But 
how different was the behavior of the humble publican ! Impressed 
with a deep sense of his own unworthiness, he would not even enter 
the courts of the temple, but stood afar off, and smote upon his breast 
and, in the bitterness of his soul, earnestly implored the mercy of 
Omnipotence, " And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up 
so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, 
God, be merciful to me a sinner." Luke xviii. 13. 

Specious as the Pharisee's behavior may seem, his prayer was an 
abomination to the Lord ; while the poor publican, who confessed his 
guilt, and implored mercy, was justified in the sight of God. rather 
than this arrogant boaster. 

The parable sufficiently indicates that all the sons of men stand in 
need of mercy : both the strict Pharisee and the despised publican, 
with the whole race of mankind, are sinners ; and consequently all 



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263 



must implore pardon of their gracious Creator. We must ail ascend 
to the temple, and there pour forth our prayers before the throne of 
grace ; for there he has promised ever to be present, to grant the pe- 
titions of all who ask with sincerity and truth, through the Son of 
his love. 

These parables were spoken in the town of Ephraim ; and during 
his continuance in that city, the Pharisees asked him, whether he 
thought it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause. 
Our Saviour had twice before declared his opinion of this particular, 
once in Galilee, and once in Perea ; it is therefore probable that the 
Pharisees were not ignorant of his sentiments, and that they asked 
the question then, to find an opportunity of incensing the people 
against him, well knowing that the Israelites held the liberty which 
the law gave them of divorcing their wives as one of their chief privi- 
leges : but however that be, Jesus was far from fearing the popular 
resentment, and accordingly declared the third time against arbitrary 
divorces. 

The Pharisees then asked him, why they were commanded by Mo- 
ses to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away ; insinuat- 
ing that Moses was so tender of their happiness, that he gave them 
liberty of putting away their wives when they saw occasion. To 
which Jesus answered, Because of the hardness of your hearts, Moses 
suffered you to put away your wives ; but from the beginning it was 
not so. As divorce was not permitted in the state of innocence, so 
neither shall it be under the gospel dispensation. " And I say unto 
you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, 
and shall marry another, committeth adultery : and whoso marrieth 
her which is put away doth commit adultery." Matt. xix. 9. 

The disciples were greatly surprised at their Master's decision ; and 
though they held their peace while the Pharisees were present, yet 
they did not fail to ask him the reason on which he founded his de- 
termination, when they were returned home. "And in the house his 
disciples asked him again of the same matter. And he saith unto 
them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, com- 
mitteth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her 
husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery." Mark 
x. 10, etc. 

The practice of unlimited divorces, which prevailed among the 
Jews, gave great encouragement to family quarrels, were very des- 
tructive of happiness, and hindered the education of their common 



264 



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offspring. Besides, it greatly tended to make their children lose that 
reverence for them which is due to parents, as it was hardly possible 
for the children to avoid engaging in the quarrel. Our Lord's pro- 
hibition, therefore, of these divorces is founded on the strongest rea- 
sons, and greatly tends to promote the welfare of society. 

Our Saviour having, in the course of his ministry, performed in- 
numerable cures in different parts of the country, several persons, 
who earnestly desired that his blessing might rest upon their offspring 
as well as themselves, brought their children to him, desiring that he 
would put his hands upon them and bless them. The disciples, how- 
ever, mistaking the intention, were angry Avith the persons, and re- 
buked them for endeavoring to give this trouble to their Master. But 
Jesus no sooner saw it, than he was greatly displeased with his disci- 
ples, and ordered them not to hinder parents from bringing their 
children to him. " Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid 
them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." Luke xviii. 16. 




THE ACROPOLIS AT ATHENS. 



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CHAPTER XXVII. 

OUR LORD DEPARTS FROM HIS RETIREMENT — DECLARES THE ONLY WAY OP SAL- 
TATION — SHOWS THE DUTY OP IMPROVING THE MEANS OP GRACE, BY THE 
PARABLE OP THE VINEYARD — PREDICTION OP HIS SUFFERING, AND CONTEN- 
TION OP THE DISCIPLES ABOUT PRECEDENCE IN HIS KINGDOM. 

The period of our blessed Saviour's passion now approaching, he 
departed from Ephraim, and repaired by the way of Jericho towards 
Jerusalem : but before he arrived at Jericho, a ruler of the synagogue 
came running to him, and, kneeling down before him, asked him, 
" Good Master, what good things shall I do, that I may have eternal 
life?" Matt. xix. 16. 

This young magistrate, or ruler, pretended to pay great honor to 
our dear Redeemer, yet the whole was no more than a piece of 
raillery. For though he styled him good, yet he did not believe 
that he was sent from God, as sufficiently appears from his refusing 
to observe the counsel given him by Jesus; nor could his artful 
insinuations escape the piercing eye of the great Saviour of the 
world. He well knew his secret intentions, and beheld the inmost 
recesses of his soul; and accordingly rebuked him for his hypo- 
critical address, before he answered his question. " Why callest 
thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God." Matt, 
xix. 17. 

But as he had desired the advice of our blessed Jesus, who never 
refused it to any of the sons of men, he readily answered his question, 
by telling him that he must observe all the moral precepts of the law; 
especially those of the second table, which can only be done by keep- 
ing those of the first. " If thou wilt enter into life, keep the com- 
mandments. He saith unto him, Which ? Jesus said, Thou shalt 
do no murder; Thou shalt not commit adultery; Thou shalt not 
steal ; Thou shalt not bear false witness ; Honor thy father and thy 
mother : and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The young 
man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth 
up: what lack I yet?" Matt. xix. 17, etc. 

These commandments perhaps he had obeyed in the vague sense 
put upon them by the doctors and interpreters of the law, and there- 
fore the character he gave of himself might be very just. For though. 



-266 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



he was far from being a person who feared God from his heart, he 
might have appeared, in the sight of men, as a person of a very fair 
character. 

And having maintained that character, notwithstanding his great 
riches, he certainly deserved commendation ; and therefore might be 
noticed by that benevolent person who left the bosom of his Father 
to redeem lost mankind. But he was, at the same time, very faulty, 
with regard to his love of sensual pleasures ; a sin which might have 
escaped even his own observation, though it could not escape the all- 
seeing eye of the Son of God. 

Our blessed Saviour, therefore, willing to make him sensible of 
his secret desire of possessing the riches of this world, told him, 
that if he aimed at perfection he should distribute his possessions 
among the poor and indigent, and become his disciple. " If thou 
wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and 
thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me." 
Matt. xix. 21. 

His heart being set upon his possessions, he had no inclination to 
a religion that enjoins self-denial and parting with our darling sins. 
" But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrow- 
ful : for he had great possessions." Matt. xix. 22. 

This melancholy instance of the pernicious influence of riches over 
the minds of the children of men, induced our blessed Saviour to 
caution his disciples against fixing their minds on things of such 
frightful tendency, by showing how very difficult it was for a rich 
man to procure an habitation in the regions of eternal happiness. 
" Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the 
kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a 
camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter 
into the kingdom of God." 

" When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, say- 
ing, Who then can be saved ? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto 
them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are pos- 
sible." Matt. xix. 23, etc. 

If man be not assisted by the grace of God, it will be impossible 
for him to obtain the happy rewards of the kingdom of heaven : but, 
by the assistance of grace, which the Almighty never refuses to those 
who seek it with their whole heart, it is very possible. 

This answer of the blessed Jesus was, however, far from satisfying 
his disciples, who had, doubtless, often reflected with pleasure on the 



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267 



high posts they were to enjoy in their Master's kingdom. Peter 
seems particularly to have been disappointed ; and therefore addressed 
his Master in the name of the rest, begging him to remember that his 
apostles had actually done what the young man had refused. They 
had abandoned their relations, their friends, their possessions, and 
their employments, on his account, and therefore desired to know 
what reward they were to expect for these instances of their obedience. 
To which Jesus replied, that they should not fail of a reward, even 
in this life ; for, immediately after his resurrection, when he ascended 
to his Father and entered on his mediatorial office, they should be 
advanced to the honor of judging the twelve tribes of Israel ; that is, 
of ruling the church of Christ, which they were to plant in different 
parts of the earth ; and, after this life, to a proportionate degree of 
glory in heaven. " Verily I say unto you, that ye which have fol- 
lowed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the 
throne of his glory, ye, also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the 
twelve tribes of Israel. 7 ' Matt. xix. 28. 

Having given this answer to Peter, he next mentioned the rewards 
his other disciples should receive, both in this world and that which 
is to come. They, said he, who have forsaken all for my sake, shall 
he no losers in the end : their benevolent Father, who intends to give 
them possessions in the heavenly Canaan, will not fail to support 
them during their long and painful journey to that happy country; 
and raise them up friends who shall assist them with those necessaries 
they might have expected from their relations, had they not left 
them for my sake. Divine Providence will take care that they have 
everything valuable that could be given them by their relations, or 
they could desire from large possessions. They shall, indeed, be 
fed with the bread of sorrow; but this shall produce joys, to which 
all the earthly pleasures bear no proportion ! and, in the end, obtain 
everlasting life. They shall leave this vale of tears, with all its pains 
and sorrows behind them, and fly to the bosom of their Almighty 
Father, the fountain of life and joy, where they shall be infinitely 
rewarded for all the sufferings they have undergone for his sake in 
this world. 

Things shall then be reversed, and those who have been reviled 
and contemned on earth for the sake of the gospel, shall be exalted to 
honor, glory, and immortality : while the others shall be consigned to 
eternal infamy. " But many that are first shall be last ; and the lasfr 
shall be first" Matt. xix. 30. 



268 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



These words seem also to have been spoken to keep the disciples 
humble ; for in all probability they at first understood the promise of 
their sitting on twelve thrones in a literal sense, as they were ready 
to construe every expression to a temporal kingdom, which they still 
expected their Master would erect upon earth. Our blessed Saviour, 
therefore, to remove all thoughts they might entertain of this kind, 
told them, that though he had described the rewards they were to 
expect for the ready obedience they had shown to his commands, and 
the pains they were to take in propagating the gospel among the 
children of men, yet those rewards were spiritual, and not confined to 
the Jews alone, but extended also to the Gentiles, who, in point of 
time, should excel the Jews, and universally embrace the gospel be- 
fore that nation was converted. 

To excite their ardent pressing forward in faith and good works,, 
our Lord relates the parable of the householder, who, at different 
hours of the day, hired laborers to work in his vineyard. " The 
kingdom of heaven/' says our blessed Saviour, " is like unto a man 
that is an householder, which went early in the morning to hire la- 
borers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the laborers 
for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out 
about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the market- 
place, and said unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard ; and what- 
soever is right, I will give you. And they went their way. Again, 
he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And 
about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, 
and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say 
unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go 
ye also into the vineyard ; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye re- 
ceive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto 
his steward, Call the laborers, and give them their hire, beginnings 
from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired 
about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But 
when the first came, they supposed that they should have received 
more ; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when 
they had received it, they murmured against the good man of the 
house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast 
made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of 
the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee- 
no wrong : didst not thou agree with me for a penny ? Take that is 
thine and go thy way : I will give unto this last even as unto 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



269 



thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own ? 
Is thine eye evil because I am good? So the last shall be first, 
and the first last : for many be called, but few chosen." Matt. xx. 
1-16. 

Such is the parable of the householder, as delivered by our Saviour, 
and, from the application he has made of it, it would not be difficult 
to interpret it. The dispensations of religion which God gave to 
mankind in different parts of the world are represented by the vine- 
yard. The Jews, who were early members of the true church, and 
obliged to obey the law of Moses, are the laborers which the house- 
holder hired early in the morning. 

The Gentiles, who were converted at several times, by the various 
interpositions of Providence, to the knowledge and worship of the 
true God, are the laborers hired at the third, sixth and ninth hours. 
And the invitation given at the eleventh hour implies the calling of 
persons in the eve of life to the knowledge of the gospel. The law 
of Moses was a heavy yoke ; and therefore the obedience to its pre- 
cepts was very elegantly represented by bearing the heat and burden 
of the whole day. But the proselyted Gentiles paid obedience only 
to some particular precepts of the law ; bore but part of its weight ; 
and were therefore represented by those who were hired at the third, 
sixth, and ninth hours ; while those heathen, who regulated their 
conduct by the law of nature (so-called) only, and esteemed the works 
of justice, piety, temperance, and charity as their whole duty, are 
beautifully represented as laboring only one hour in the cool of the 
evening. 

When the evening was come, and each laborer was to receive his 
wages, they were all placed on an equal footing ; these rewards being 
the privileges and advantages of the gospel. The Jews, who had 
borne the grievous yoke of the Mosaic ceremonies, murmured when 
they found the Gentiles were admitted to its privileges, without 
being subject to their ceremonial worship. But we must not urge 
the circumstance of the reward, so far as to fancy that either Jews or 
Gentiles merited the blessings of the gospel, by their having labored 
faithfully in the vineyard, or having behaved well under their several 
dispensations. 

The glorious gospel, with all its blessings, was bestowed entirely 
by the free grace of God, and without anything in men to merit it; 
besides, it was offered promiscuously to all, and embraced by persons 
of all characters. The conclusion of the parable deserves our utmost 



270 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



attention ; we should often meditate upon it, and take care to make 
our calling and election sure. After Jesus had finished these dis- 
courses, he continued his journey towards Jerusalem, where, it is said, 
the chief priests and elders, soon after the resurrection of Lazarus, 
issued a proclamation, promising a reward to any one who should ap- 
prehend him. In all probability this was the reason why the 
disciples were astonished at the alacrity of our Lord, during this 
journey, while they themselves followed him, trembling. Jesus, 
therefore, thought proper to repeat the prophecies concerning his 
sufferings, in order to show his disciples that they were entirely 
voluntary ; adding, that though the Jews should put him to death, 
yet, instead of weakening, it should increase their faith, especially 
as he would rise again on the third day from the dead. " Behold, 
we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the 
prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For 
he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and 
spitefully entreated, and spitted on : and they shall scourge him, and 
put him to death : and the third day he shall rise again." ■ Luke 
xviii. 31-33. 

As this prediction manifestly tended to the confirmation of the 
ancient prophecies, it must have given the greatest encouragement to 
his disciples, had they understood and applied it in a proper manner ; 
but they were so ignorant in the scriptures that they had no idea of 
what he meant : "And they understood none of these things : and this 
saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were 
spoken." Luke xviii. 34. 

The sons of Zebedee were so blinded by prejudice that they 
thought their Master, by his telling them he would rise again from 
the dead, meant that he would then erect his empire, and accord- 
ingly begged that he would confer on them the chief posts in his 
kingdom ; which they expressed by desiring to be seated, the one on 
his right hand, and the Other on his left, in allusion to his placing 
the twelve apostles upon twelve thrones, judging the tribes of Israel. 
But some writers think that this ignorant request was made at some 
other time.* This race of mortals, ever since our Saviour's transfigu- 
ration, had conceived very high notions of his kingdom, and possibly 
of their own merit also, because they had been permitted to behold 
that miracle. But Jesus told them that they were ignorant of the 
nature of the honor they requested ; and since they desired to share 
with him in glory, asked them if they were willing to share with him 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



also in his sufferings : " Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to 
drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the 
baptism that I am baptized with?" Matt. xx. 22. 

The two disciples ravished with the prospect of the dignity the} 
were aspiring after, replied without hesitation, that they were both 
able and willing to share any hardship their Master might meet with 
m the way to the kingdom. To which he answered, that they should 
certainly share with him in his troubles and afflictions ; but that they 
had asked a favor which was not his to give, except as prepared and 
promised by the Father. " Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be 
baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with ; but to sit on 
my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give ; but it shall 
be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father." Matt, 
xx. 23. 

This ambitious request of the two brothers raised the indignation 
of the rest of the disciples, who thinking themselves equally deserving 
the principal post in the Messiah's kingdom, were highly offended at 
the arrogance of the sons of Zebedee. Jesus, therefore, in order to 
restore harmony among his disciples, told them that his kingdom was 
very different from those of the present world, and the greatness of his 
disciples did not, like that of secular princes, consist in reigning over 
others in an absolute and despotic manner. " Ye know that the 
princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are 
great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among 
you : but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your min- 
ister ; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your ser- 
vant : even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to 
minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." Matt, xx. 25-28. 
Ye know that rank and precedence denote merit of character 
here ; but Christian greatness, and spiritual precedence consist in 
humility, of which Christ, your Saviour, was made an eminent 
pattern. 



272 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE BENEVOLENT SAVIOUR RESTORES SIGHT TO THE BLIND — KINDLY REGARDS 

ZACCHEUS, THE PUBLICAN — DELIVERS THE PARABLE OP THE SERVANTS EN- 
TRUSTED WITH THEIR LORD'S MONEY— ACCEPTS THE KIND OFFICES OF MARY 
— MAKES A PUBLIC ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM. 

Jesus, with his disciples and the multitude that accompanied him, 
were now arrived at Jericho, a famous city of Palestine, and the 
second in the kingdom. Near this town Jesus cured two blind men, 
who sat by the road begging, and expressed their belief in him as the 
Messiah. "And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude fol- 
lowed him. And, behold, two blind men, sitting by the way-side, 
when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy 
on us, O Lord, thou Son of David ! And the multitude rebuked 
them, because they should hold their peace s but they cried the more, 
saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David." Matt. xx. 
29-31. 

This importunate request had its desired effect on the Son of God. 
He stood still, and called them to him, that, by their manner of walk- 
ing, the spectators might be convinced that they were really blind. 
As soon as they approached him, he asked them, what they requested 
with such earnestness; to which the beggars answered, that they 
might receive their sight. " What will ye that I shall do unto you ?" 
they say, " Lord, that our eyes may be opened." This request was 
not made in vain. Their compassionate Saviour touched their eyes, 
and immediately they received sight, and followed him, glorifying and 
praising God. 

After conferring sight on these beggars, Zaccheus, chief of the pub- 
licans, having often heard the fame of our Saviour's miracles, was de- 
sirous of seeing his person : but the lowness of his stature preventing 
him from satisfying his curiosity, " he ran before, and climbed up a 
sycamore-tree to see him ; for he was to pass that way." As Jesus 
approached the place where he was, " he looked up, and saw him, and 
said unto him, Zaccheus, make haste, and come down ; for to-day I § 
must abide at thy house." Luke xix. 5. The publican expressed his 
joy at our Lord's condescending to visit him, took him to his house 




18 



BLIND BARTIMEUS. 



273 



274 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



and showed him all the marks of civility in his power. But the peo 
pie, when they saw he w T as going to the house of a publican, condemned 
his conduct, as not conformable to the character of a prophet. Zac- 
cheus seems to have heard these unjust reflections, and therefore was 
willing to justify himself before Jesus and his attendants. " And 
Zaccheus stood, and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my 
goods I give to the poor ; and if I have taken anything from any man 
by false accusation, I restore him four fold. And Jesus said unto 
him, This day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he also is 
a son of Abraham." Luke xix. 8, etc. Our Saviour further, to 
convince the people that the design of his mission was to seek and to 
restore life and salvation to lost and perishing sinners, adds : " The 
Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." 

While Jesus continued in the house of Zaccheus, the publican, he 
spake a parable to his followers, who supposed, at his arrival in the 
royal city, he would erect the long-expected kingdom of the Messiah. 
" A certain nobleman," said he, " w r ent into a far country to receive 
for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, 
and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I 
come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, say- 
ing, We will not have this man to reign over us. And it came to 
pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then 
he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had 
given the money, that he might know how much every man had 
gained by trading. Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound 
hath gained ten pounds. And he said unto him, Well, thou good 
servant ; because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou 
authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Lord., thy 
pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be 
thou also over five cities. And another came, saying, Lord, behold, 
here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin : for I feared 
thee, because thou art an austere man : thou takest up that thou lay- 
edst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. And he saith 
unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked 
servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I 
laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow : wherefore then gavest 
not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have 
required mine own with usury? and he said unto them that stood by, 
Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds 
(and they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds). For I say unto 



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275 



you, That unto every one which hath shall be given ; and from him that 
hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. But those 
mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring 
hither, and slay them before me." Luke xix. 12-27. 

After speaking this parable, Jesus left the house of Zaccheus the 
publican, and continued his journey towards Jerusalem, where he pro- 
posed to celebrate the passover, and was earnestly expected by the 
people, who came up to purify themselves, and who began to doubt 
whether he would venture to come to the feast. This delay, however, 
was occasioned by the proclamation issued by the chief priests, prom- 
ising a reward to any who would discover the place of his retirement. 
" Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command- 
ment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should show it, that 
they might take him." John xi. 57. 

Six days before the passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, and re- 
paired to the house of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 
" There they made him a supper ; and Martha served : but Lazarus 
was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a 
pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of 
Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair : and the house was filled with 
the odor of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Is- 
cariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, Why was not this oint- 
ment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor ? This he 
said, not that he cared for the -poor; but because he was a thief, and 
had the bag and bare what was therein. Then said Jesus, Let her 
alone : against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the 
poor always ye have with you ; but me ye have not always." John 
xii. 2, etc. 

As Bethany was not above two miles from Jerusalem, the news of 
his arrival was soon spread through the capital, and great numbers of 
the citizens came to see Lazarus, who had been raised from the dead, 
together with the great Prophet who had wrought so stupendous a 
miracle ; and many of them were convinced both of the resurrection 
of the former and the divinity of the latter : but the news of their 
conversion, together with the reason of it being currently reported in 
Jerusalem, the chief priests were soon sensible of the weight so great 
a miracle must have on the minds of the people ; and therefore deter- 
mined, if possible, to put both Jesus and Lazarus to death. 

Our blessed Lord, though he knew the design of the Jews upon him. 
also knew that it became him to fulfil all righteousness, and was so 



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277 



far from declining to visit Jerusalem, that he even entered it in a 
public manner. " When they were come to Bethphage, unto the 
Mount of Olives,* then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, 
Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an 
ass tied and a colt with her : loose them, and bring them unto me. 
And if any man say aught unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath 
need of them, and straightway he will send them. All this was done 
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 
Tell ye the daughter of Si on, Behold, the King conieth unto thee, 
meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass. And 
the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought 
the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him 
thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the 
way ; others cut down branches from the trees, and strewed them in 
the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, 
cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David ! Blessed is he that 
cometh in the name of the Lord ; Hosanna in the highest ! And when 
he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is 
this ? And the multitude said, This is Jesus, the prophet of Naza- 
reth of Galilee." Matt. xxi. 1-11. 

The prodigious multitude that now accompanied Jesus, filled the 
Pharisees and great men with malice and envy, because every method 
they had taken to hinder the people from following Jesus had proved 
ineffectual. " The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive 
ye how ye prevail nothing ? behold, the world is gone after him." 
John xii. 19. 

But when our blessed Saviour drew near the city of Jerusalem, sur- 
rounded by the rejoicing multitude, notwithstanding the many affronts 
he had there received, he beheld the city with a divine generosity and 
benevolence which nothing can equal, wept over it, and, in the most 
pathetic manner, lamented the calamities which he foresaw were com- 
ing upon it, because its inhabitants were ignorant of the time of their 
visitation. " If/' said he, " thou hadst known, even thou, at least in 
this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! but now they 
are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that 
thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, 

* This is the well-known eminence lying on the east of Jerusalem. It is rounded 
and symmetrical in form, and is about 300 feet higher than the mount on which 
the Temple stood. It was the scene of David's flight from Absalom, of Solomon's 
idolatry, of the triumphal entry of Christ, and of His agony in the garden. 



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and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, 
and thy children within thee ; and they shall not leave in thee one 
stone upon another ; because thou knewest not the time of thy visita- 
tion." Luke xix. 42, etc. 

Behold here, ye wandering mortals, behold an example of generos- 
ity infinitely superior to any furnished by the heathen world ; an ex- 
ample highly worthy for them to imitate and admire ! 

When Jesus, surrounded by the multitude, entered Jerusalem, the 
whole city was moved on account of the prodigious concourse of peo- 
ple that accompanied him, and their continual acclamations. 

J esus rode immediately to the temple ; but it being evening, he 
soon left the city to the great discouragement of the people, who ex- 
pected he was immediately to have taken into his hands the reins of 
government. " And J esus entered into Jerusalem, and into the tem- 
ple : and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now 
the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve." 
Mark xi. 11. 




JERUSALEM AND ITS VALLEYS. 



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279 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

JESUS PRONOUNCES A CURSE UPON THE FIG-TREE — EXPELS THE PROFANERS 
OF THE TEMPLE — ASSERTS HIS DIVINE AUTHORITY, AND DELIVERS TWO PAR- 
ABLES. 

At the earliest dawn our blessed Saviour left Bethany to visit again 
the capital of Judea. And as he pursued his journey he saw at a 
distance a fig-tree, which, from its fulness of leaves, promised abun- 
dance of fruit. This inviting object induced him to approach it, in 
expectation of finding figs, for he was hungry, and the season for 
gathering them was not yet arrived ; but on his coming to the tree, he 
found it to be really barren : upon which the blessed Jesus said to it, 
4i Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever." Matt. xxi. 19. 

This action, which was purely emblematical, and prefigured the 
speedy ruin of the Jewish nation, on account of its unfruitfulness, 
under all the advantages it then enjoyed, has, by the enemies of reve- 
lation, been represented as an action unbecoming the Redeemer of 
mankind. But if they had fully considered its intention, they would 
have been clearly convinced, that, like the rest of his miracles, it was 
done with a gracious intention; namely, to awaken the Jews from 
their lethargy, and by timely repentance prevent the total ruin of 
their church and nation. 

Being disappointed in finding fruit on the fig-tree, our blessed 
Saviour pursued his journey to Jerusalem ; and, on his arrival, went 
straightway to the temple, the outer court of which he found full' of 
merchandise. 

A sight like this grieved his holy and righteous soul, so that he 
drove them all out of the temple, overturned the tables of the money- 
changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and would not suffer 
any vessel to be carried through the temple, saying unto them, " It 
is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer ; but ye have 
made it a den of thieves." Matt. xxi. 13. 

Having dispersed this venal tribe, the people brought unto him the 
blind, the lame, and the diseased, who were all healed by the Son of 
God, so that the very children, when they saw the many miraculous 
cures he performed, proclaimed him to be the great Son of David, the 



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long expected Messiah. Such behavior not a little incensed the 
Pharisees : but they feared the people, and therefore only asked him 
if he heard what the children said ; insinuating that he ought to re- 
buke them, and not suffer them thus to load him with the highest 
praises. But Jesus, instead of giving a direct answer to their ques- 
tion, repeated a passage out of the eighth Psalm. " Have ye never 
read," said the blessed Jesus, " out of the mouths of babes and suck- 
lings thou hast perfected praise?" Giving them to understand, that 
the meanest of God's works have been made instrumental in spread- 
ing his praise. The evening being now come, Jesus, with his- 
disciples, left the city and retired to Bethany, where his benevolent 
miracle in raising Lazarus from the dead had procured him many 
friends, among whom he was always in safety. 

The next morning, as they were returning to Jerusalem, the dis- 
ciples were astonished at beholding the fig-tree that had been but the 
morning before declared barren dried up from the roots. They 
had, in all probability, forgotten what our Saviour had said to this 
fig-tree, till its dry and withered aspect brought it again to their 
memory. 

Peter, on seeing this astonishing phenomenon, said unto Jesus, 
" Master, behold the fig-tree which thou cursedst is withered away ! " 
To which Jesus answered, that whoever had faith in the Almighty,, 
or thoroughly believed in this miracle, should be able to do much 
greater things than the withering of the fig-tree. "And Jesus an- 
swering, saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto 
you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, 
and be thou cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but 
shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass ; he 
shall have whatsoever he saith." Mark xi. 22, 23. Our Lord added, 
that whatsoever they should ask by faith, they should receive ; and 
concluded by giving them direction concerning prayer, which was 
necessary to increase the faith he mentioned. "And when ye stand 
praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any ; that your Father also 
which is in heaven may forgive your trespasses. But if ye do not 
forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your 
trespasses." Mark xi. 25, 26. 

During the time the blessed Jesus remained in the temple, certain 
proselyted Greeks, who came up to worship at Jerusalem, desired to 
see him, having long cherished expectations of beholding the prom- 
ised Messiah. Accordingly they applied to Philip, a native of Beth- 



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281 



saida, who mentioned it to Andrew, and he told it to Jesus. Upon 
which our blessed Saviour told his disciples that he should soon be 
honored with the conversion of the Gentiles. " The hour is come/ 5 
said he, "that the Son of man should be glorified." But declared, 
that before this glorious event happened, he must suffer death ; illus- 
trating the necessity there was of his dying, by the similitude of cast- 
ing grain into the earth. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a 
corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone ; but 
if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." John xii. 24. Adding, 
that since it was absolutely necessary for him, their Lord and Master, 
to suffer the pains of death before he ascended the throne of his 
glory, so they, as his followers, must also expect to be persecuted 
and spitefully used for his name's sake; but if they persevered, 
and even resolved to lose their lives in his service, he would 
reward their constancy with a crown of glory; and at the same 
time he intimated to the strangers, that if their desire of conversing 
with him proceeded from a hope of obtaining from him temporal 
preferments, they would find themselves sadly disappointed. " If any 
man serve me, let him follow me ; and where I am, there shall also 
my servant be; if any man serve me, him will my Father honor." 
John xii. 26. 

Our blessed Lord was now so affected, that he uttered, in a very 
pathetic manner, his grief, and addressed his heavenly Father for 
succor in his distress, " Now is my soul troubled ; and what shall I 
say ? Father, save me from this hour : but for this cause came I 
unto this hour." John xii. 27. This should teach us, that prayer is 
the only method of easing the mind overwhelmed with distress ; but 
at the same time to be always resigned to the divine will; for, though 
the weakness of human nature may shrink when persecution or suf- 
ferings of any kind appear, yet by reflecting on the wisdom, goodness, 
and power of God to deliver us, Ave ought to support every trial, 
however severe, with patience, as he doubtless proposes some happy 
ends by these afflictions. 

Our blessed Lord having made a short prayer to his Father, begged 
him to demonstrate the truth of his mission by some token which 
could not be resisted. " Father, glorify thy name." Nor had he 
hardly uttered these words, before he was answered by an audible 
voice from heaven : " I have both glorified it, and will glorify it 
again." The miracles thou hast already performed have glorified 
my name ; and I will still continue to glorify it, by other miracles 



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to be wrought before the sons of men. This voice was evidently 
supernatural, resembling thunder in loudness, but sufficiently articu- 
late to be understood by those who heard our blessed Saviour pray 
to his heavenly Father. And Jesus told his disciples that it was not 
given for his sake, but to confirm them in their faith of his mission. 
" This voice/' said he, " came not because of me, but for your sakes." 
It came to confirm what I have told you relating to my sufferings, 
death, resurrection, and the conversion of the Gentile world to the 
Christian religion. 

Accordingly he communicated this comfortable reflection to his 
disciples, telling them that the time was at hand, when the kingdom 
of Satan should be destroyed, and that of the Messiah exalted. "Now 
is the judgment of this world : now shall the prince of this world be 
cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men 
unto me." John xii. 31, 32. 

The people, not understanding the meaning of this affirmation, 
replied, " We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for 
ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up?" 
John xii. 34. 

Our Lord, in answer, told them that they should soon be deprived 
of his presence and miracles ; and therefore they would do well to 
listen attentively to his precepts, firmly believe the doctrines he de- 
livered, and wisely improve them to their eternal advantage; for, 
otherwise, they would be soon overtaken with spiritual blindness, and 
rendered incapable of inheriting the promises of the gospel; — that 
while they enjoyed the benefit of his preaching and miracles, which 
sufficiently proved the truth of his mission from the Most High, they 
should believe on him ; for by that means alone they could become 
the children of God. " Yet a little while is the light with you. 
Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you : for he 
that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye 
have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light." 
John xiii. 35, 36. 

Having thus addressed the multitude he retired privately. But, 
notwithstanding the many miracles our great Redeemer had wrought 
in presence of this perverse and stiff-necked people, the generality of 
them refused to own him for the Messiah, being filled with the vain 
expectations of a temporal prince, who was to rule over all the king- 
doms of the earth, and place his throne in Jerusalem. Some, indeed, 
even of the rulers, believed on him, though they thought it prudent 



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283 



to conceal their faith, lest they should, like the blind man, be ex- 
communicated, or put out of the synagogue : valuing the good opinion 
of men above the approbation of the Almighty. 

Nevertheless, to inspire such as believed on him with courage, he 
cried in the temple, " He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, 
but on him that sent me." He that acknowledges the divinity of my 
mission, acknowledges the power and grace of God, on whose special 
errand I am thus sent. Adding, He that seeth the miracles I per- 
form, seeth the operations of that omnipotent Power by which I act. 
I am the Sun of Righteousness, whose beams dispel the darkness of 
ignorance in which the sons of men are involved, and am come tc 
deliver all who believe on me out of that palpable darkness. You 
must not, however, expect that I will at present execute my judgment 
upon those who refuse to embrace the doctrines of the gospel ; for I 
am not come to condemn and punish, but to save the world, and con- 
sequently to try every gentle and winning method to reclaim the 
wicked from the error of their ways, and turn their feet into the paths 
of life and salvation. They shall not, however, escape unpunished 
who neglect the instructions and offers of salvation now made to them ; 
for the doctrines I have preached shall bear witness against them at 
the awful tribunal of the last day; and as it has aggravated their sin, 
so it shall then heighten their punishment. 

While Jesus was thus preaching in the temple, a deputation of 
priests and elders was sent from the supreme council, to ask him con- 
cerning the nature of the authority by which he acted, whether it was 
as prophet, priest, or king, as no other person had a right to make 
any alterations, either in church or state ; and if he laid claim to 
either of those characters, from whom he received it. But our blessed 
Saviour, instead of giving a direct answer to the questions of the 
Pharisees, asked them another ; promising, if they resolved his ques- 
tion, he would also answer theirs. " I also will ask you one thing, 
which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I 
do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? From 
heaven, or of men ?" Matt. xxi. 24, 25. This question puzzled the 
priests. They considered, on the one hand, that if it was from God, 
it would oblige them to acknowledge the authority of Jesus, John 
having more than once publicly declared him to be the Messiah ; and, 
on the other, if they peremptorily denied the authority of John, they 
would be in danger of being stoned by the people, who in general 
considered him as a prophet. They, therefore, thought it the most 



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eligible method to answer, that they could not tell from whence John's, 
baptism was. Thus, by declining to answer the question asked them 
by Jesus, they left him at liberty to decline giving the council the 
satisfaction they had sent to demand ; at the same time they plainly 
confessed that they were unable to pass any opinion on John the Bap- 
tist, notwithstanding he claimed the character of a messenger from 
God, and they had sent to examine his pretensions. This was, in 
effect, to acknowledge that they were incapable of judging of any 
prophet whatsoever. Well, therefore, might the blessed Jesus say, 
" Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things." You 
have no right to ask, since you have confessed you are unable to 
judge; and therefore I shall not satisfy your inquiry. But because 
this deputation had said that they were ignorant from whence the 
baptism of John was, our blessed Saviour sharply rebuked them, con- 
veying his reproof in the parable of the two sons commanded to work 
in their father's vineyard, and asking their opinion of the two, made 
them condemn themselves. 

The blessed Jesus did not only rebuke them for rejecting the 
preaching of the Baptist, but represented the crime of the nation, in 
rejecting all the prophets which had been sent since they became a 
nation, and among the rest, the only-begotten Son of the Most High ; 
warning them at the same time of their danger and the punishment 
that would inevitably ensue, if they continued in their rebellion. The 
outward economy of religion, in which they gloried, would be taken 
from them, their relation to God as his people cancelled, and the 
national constitution destroyed; but because these topics were ex- 
tremely disagreeable, he delivered them under the veil of the follow- 
ing parable. 

Shocked at this awful representation, the Pharisees exclaimed, and 
said, " God forbid surely these husbandmen will not proceed to 
such desperate iniquity ; surely the vineyard will not thus be taken 
from them. But, to confirm the truth of this, our Saviour added a 
remarkable prophecy of himself and his rejection, from Psalm cxviii. 
"Did you never," said he, "read in the scriptures, The stone which 
the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner : this 
is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?" Matt, 
xxi. 42. 

This rejection of the Messiah by the Jews, and the reception he met 
with among the Gentiles, all brought to pass by the providence of 
God, are wonderful events; and therefore I say unto you, the kingdom 



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283 



of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth 
the fruits thereof. 

The chief priests and Pharisees, being afraid to apprehend Jesus, he 
was at liberty to proceed in the offices of his ministry : accordingly, he 
delivered another parable, wherein he described, on the one hand, 
the bad success which the preaching of the gospel was to meet with 
among the Jews ; and, on the other, the cheerful reception given it 
among the Gentiles. 

This gracious design of the Almighty, in giving the gospel to the 
children of men, our blessed Saviour illustrated by the behavior of a 
certain king, who, in honor of his son, made a great feast, to which he 
invited many guests. 

" The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made 
a marriage for his son." This marriage-supper, or great feast, signi- 
fies the joys of grace and glory, which are properly compared to an 
elegant entertainment, on account of their exquisiteness and duration ; 
and are here said to be prepared in honor of the Son of God, because 
they are bestowed on men in consequence of his sufferings in their 
stead and behalf. 

Some time before the supper was ready, the servants went forth to 
call the guests to the wedding : i. e., when the fulness of time ap- 
proached, the Jews, as being the peculiar people of God, were first 
-called by John the Baptist, and afterwards by Christ himself; but 
they refused all these benevolent calls of mercy, and rejected the kind 
invitations of the gospel, though pressed by the preaching of the Mes- 
siah and his forerunner. 

After our Saviour's resurrection and ascension, the apostles were 
sent forth to inform the Jews that the gospel-covenant was established, 
mansions in heaven prepared, and nothing wanting but the cheerful 
acceptance of the honor designed them. " Again, he sent forth other 
servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared 
my dinner ; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are 
ready : come unto the marriage." But these messengers were as un- 
successful as the former. The Jews, undervaluing the favor offered 
them, mocked at the message : and some of them, more rude than the 
rest, insulted, beat, and slew the servants that had been sent to call 
them to the marriage-supper of the Lamb. " But when the king 
heard thereof, he was wrath : and he sent forth his armies, and de- 
stroyed those murderers, and burnt up their city." 

This part of the parable plainly predicted the destruction of the 



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Jews by the Roman armies, called here the armies of the Almighty,, 
because they were appointed by him to execute vengeance on that once 
favorite, but now rebellious people. 

The parable is then continued as follows : The king again sent forth 
his servants into the countries of the Gentiles, with orders to compel 
all that they met with to come unto the marriage. This was imme- 
diately done, and the wedding was furnished with guests ; but Avhen 
the king came into the apartment, " He saw there a man which had 
not on a wedding-garment : and he saith unto him, Friend, how 
earnest thou in hither, not having a wedding-garment? And he was- 
speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and 
foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness ; there 
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but 
few are chosen." Matt. xxii. 11-14. 



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287 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THE BLESSED JESUS WISELY RETORTS ON THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES, WHO 
PROPOUND AN INTRICATE QUESTION TO HIM — SETTLES THE MOST IMPORTANT 
POINT OP THE LAW — ENFORCES HIS MISSION AND DOCTRINE ; AND FORETELLS 
THE JUDGMENT THAT WOULD FALL UPON THE PHARISAICAL TRIBE. 

This representation of the state of the finally impenitent appearing 
to be levelled at the Pharisees, they immediately concerted with the 
Herodians and Sadducees on the most proper method of putting Jesus 
to death. It is sufficiently evident that their hatred was now carried 
to the highest pitch, because the most violent enmity which had so 
long subsisted between the two sects was on this occasion suspended, 
and they joined together to execute their cruel determination on the 
Son of God. They, however, thought it most eligible to act very 
cautiously, and endeavor, if possible, to catch some hasty expression 
from him, that they might render him odious to the people, and 
find something against him that might serve as a basis for his perse- 
cution. 

Accordingly they sent some of their disciples to him, with orders 
to feign themselves just men, who maintained the greatest veneration 
for the divine law, and dreaded nothing more than the doing anything 
inconsistent with its precepts ; and under this specious cloak of hypoc- 
risy, to beg his determination of an affair that had long lain heavy on 
their consciences; namely, the paying tribute to Csesar, which they 
thought inconsistent with their zeal for religion. This question was,, 
it seems, furiously debated in our Saviour's time ; one Judas, a native 
of Galilee, having implanted in the minds of the people a notion that 
taxes to a foreign power were absolutely unlawful. A doctrine so 
pleasing to the worldly-minded Jews could not fail of friends, espe- 
cially among the lower class, and therefore must have many partisans 
among the multitude that then surrounded the Son of God. The 
priests, therefore, imagined that it was not in his power to decide the 
point, without rendering himself obnoxious to some of the parties ; if 
he should say it was lawful to pay the taxes, they believed that the 
people, in whose hearing the question was proposed, would be incensed 
against him, not only as a base pretender, who, on being attacked, 



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OXE OY THE OLD GATES OF .JERUSALEM. 



publicly renounced the character of the Messiah, which he had as- 
sumed among his friends, but also a flatterer of princes, and a betrayer 
of the liberties of his country; one who taught a doctrine inconsistent 
with the known privileges of the people of God : but if he should affirm 



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289 



that it was unlawful to pay the tribute, they determined to inform the 
governor, who, they hoped, would punish him as a fraraer of sedition. 
Highly elated with their project, they accordingly came, and after 
passing an encomium on the truth of his mission, his courage, and im- 
partiality, they proposed this famous question, " Master," said they, 
" we know that thou art true, and carest for no man : for thou re- 
gardest not the person of men, but teacheth the way of God in truth/' 
Mark xii. 14. " Tell us, therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it law- 
ful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?" Matt. xxii. 17. 

But the blessed Jesus saw their secret intentions ; and accordingly 
called them hypocrites, to signify that though they pretended to make 
conscience of, and show a regard for the will of God, in proposing this 
question, he saw through the thin veil that concealed their design from 
the eyes of mortals, and knew that their intention was to ensnare him. 
He, however, did not decline answering their question, but previously 
desired to see a piece of the tribute money. The piece was accord- 
ingly produced, and proved to be coined by the Romans. Upon 
which our blessed Saviour answered them, Since this money bears the 
image of Csesar it is his; and by making use of it you acknowledge 
his authority. But at the same time that you discharge your duty 
to the civil magistrate, you should never forget the duty you owe to 
your God ; but remember that as you profess to bear the image of 
the great, the omnipotent King, you are his subjects, and ought to 
love him with all your heart, and serve him to the very utmost of 
your power. 

The Pharisees and their followers, under a pretence of religion, 
often justified sedition ; but the Herodians, in order to ingratiate them- 
selves with the reigning powers, made them a compliment of their 
consciences, complying with whatever they enjoined, however opposite 
their commands might be to the Divine law. Our Lord, therefore, 
adapted his answer to them both, exhorting them, in their regards to 
God and the magistrate, to give each his due; there being no 
inconsistency between their rights, when their rights only are in- 
sisted on. 

So unexpected an answer quite disconcerted and silenced these 
crafty enemies. They were astonished both at his having discovered 
their design, and his wisdom in avoiding the snare they had so art- 
fully laid for him. "When they had heard these words, they mar- 
velled, and left him, and went their way." Matt. xxii. 22. 

Though our Lord thus wisely obviated their crafty designs, enemies . 
19 



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LIFE OF 



CHRIST. 



came against him from every quarter. The Sadducees, who denied 
the doctrine of a future state, together with the existence of angels 
and spirits, came forward to the charge; proposing to him their 
strongest argument against the resurrection, which they deduced from 
the law given by Moses, with regard to marriage. " Master," said 
they, " Moses wrote unto us, If any man's brother die, having a wife, 
and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and 
raise up seed unto his brother. There were therefore seven brethren : 
and the first took a wife, and died without children. And the second 
took her to wife, and he died childless. And the third took her ; and 
in like manner the seven also : and they left no children, and died. 
Last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, 
whose wife of them is she ? for seven had her to wife." Luke xx. 28, 
etc. The Sadducees, who believed the soul to be nothing more than 
a refined matter, were persuaded that if there were any future state it 
must resemble the present ; and that being in that state material and 
mortal, the human race could not be continued, nor the individuals 
rendered happy, without the pleasures and conveniences of marriage ; 
and hence considered it as a necessary consequence of the doctrine of 
the resurrection, or a future state, that every man's wife should be 
restored to him. 

But this argument our blessed Saviour soon confuted, by telling the 
Sadducees they were ignorant of the power of God, who had created 
spirit as well as matter, and who can render man completely happy in 
the enjoyment of himself. He also observed, that the nature of the 
life obtained in a future state made marriage altogether superfluous, 
because in the world to come, men being spiritual and immortal, like 
the angels, there was no need of natural means to propagate or con- 
tinue the kind. " Ye do err," said the blessed Jesus, " not knowing 
the scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they 
neither marry, nor are given in marriage." Matt. xxii. 29, " Neither 
can they die any more : for they are equal unto the angels ; and are 
the children of God, being the children of the resurrection." Luke 
xx. 36. Hence we may observe, that good men are called the 
children of the Most High, from their inheritance at the resurrec- 
tion, and particularly on account of their being adorned with immor- 
tality. 

Having thus shown their folly and unbelief, he proceeded to show 
that they were also ignorant of the scriptures, and particularly of the 
writings of Moses, from whence they had drawn their objection, by 



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demonstrating from the very law itself the certainty of a resurrection, 
at least that of just men, and consequently quite demolished the opin- 
ion of the Sadducees, who, believing in the materiality of the soul, 
affirmed that men were annihilated after their death, and that their 
opinion was founded on the writings of Moses. " Now," said our 
Saviour, " that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, 
when he called the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, 
and the God of Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead, but of the 
living : for all live unto him." Luke xx. 37, 38. As if he had said, 
The Almighty cannot properly be called the God of Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob, unless they exist, for he is not a God of the dead, but of 
the living. Since therefore, Moses called him the God of Abraham, 
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, long after these venerable 
patriarchs were dead, the relation denoted by the word of God still 
subsisted between them ; consequently they were not annihilated, as 
you pretend, but still in being, and continue to be the servants of the 
Most High. 

This argument effectually silenced the Sadducees, and agreeably 
surprised the people, to see the objection hitherto thought impregnable 
totally abolished, and the sect they had long abominated fully confuted. 

" And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his 
doctrine." Matt. xxii. 33. Nor could even the Pharisees refrain 
from giving the Saviour of mankind the praise due to his superlative 
wisdom ; for one of the scribes desired him to give his opinion on a 
question often debated among their teachers ; namely, which was the 
great commandment of the law ? The true reason for their proposing 
this question was to try whether he was as well acquainted with the 
sacred law, and the debates that had arisen on different parts of it, as 
he was ready in deriving arguments from the inspired writers, to 
destroy the tenets of those who denied a future state. 

In order to understand the question proposed to our blessed Sav- 
iour by the scribe, it is necessary to observe, that some of the most 
learned rabbins had declared that the law of sacrifices was the great 
commandment; some that it was the law of circumcision, and others, 
that the law of meats and washings had best that title. Our blessed 
Saviour, however, showed that they were all mistaken ; and that the 
great commandment of the law is the duty of piety ; and particularly 
mentioned that comprehensive summary of it given by Moses : "Hear, 
O Israel ; the Lord our God is one Lord : and thou shalt love the 
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all 



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thy mind,, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment/' 
Mark xiL 29, 30. 

The first and chief commandment is, to give God our hearts. The 
divine Being is so transcendently amiable in himself, and has, by the 
innumerable benefits conferred upon us, such a title to our utmost 
affection, that no obligation bears any proportion to that of loving him. 
The honor assigned to this precept proves that piety is the noblest act 
of the human mind ; and that the chief ingredient in piety is love, 
founded on a clear and extensive view of the divine perfections, har- 
monizing in our redemption by Christ, a permanent sense of his bene- 
fits, and a deep conviction of his being the sovereign good, our por- 
tion, and our happiness. But it is essential to love that there be a 
delight in contemplating the beauty of the object beloved, whether 
that beauty be a matter of sensation or reflection ; that we frequently 
and with pleasure reflect on the benefits conferred on us by the ob- 
ject of our affections; that we have a strong desire of pleasing him, 
great fear of doing anything to offend him, and a sensible joy in think- 
ing we are beloved in return. Hence the duties of devotion, prayer, 
and praise are the *most natural and genuine exercises of the love of 
God. 

Out blessed Saviour having thus answered the question put to him 
by the scribe, added, that the second commandment was that which 
enjoined the love of our neighbor. This had, indeed, no relation to 
the lawyer's question concerning the first commandment; yet our 
blessed Lord though proper to show him which was the second ; pro- 
bably because the men of this sect did not acknowledge the import- 
ance and precedency of love to their neighbor, or because they were 
remarkably deficient in the practice of it, as Jesus himself had often 
found, in their attempt to kill him. " And the second is like unto 
it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 

This principle of love to God will be also fruitful of every good 
work. It will make us readily perform the duties of all relations in 
which we stand. And because love worketh no ill to his neighbor, 
therefore it is the fulfilling of the law, for it will prompt us to a 
cheerful and ready performance of every office, whether of justice or 
charity, that we owe to our neighbor. All the best things we can do, 
if destitute of this principle, will appear either to be the eifect of hy- 
pocrisy, or done to procure the esteem of men. Without love, a nar- 
rowness of soul will shut us up within ourselves, and make all we do 
to others only as a sort of merchandise, trading for our own advantage. 



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203 



It is love only that opens our hearts to consider other persons, and 
to love them on their own account, or rather on account of God, 
who is love. 

But we return to the scribe, who was astonished at the justness 
of our Saviour's decisions, and answered, that he had determined 
rightly, since there is but one supreme God, whom we must ali 
adore; and if we love him above all temporal things, and our 
neighbor as ourselves, we worship him more acceptably than if we 
sacrifice to him all the cattle upon a thousand hills. 

Our blessed Lord highly applauded the piety and wisdom of this 
reflection, by declaring that the person who made it was not far from 
the kingdom of God. 

As the Pharisees, during the course of our Saviour's ministry, had 
proposed to him many difficult questions, with an intention to prove 
his prophetical gifts, he now, in his turn, thought proper to make a 
trial of their knowledge in the sacred writings. 

For this purpose he asked their opinion of a difficulty concerning 
the Messiah's pedigree. "What think ye of Christ? whose sod 
is he? They say unto him, The son of David." Matt. xxii. 42. 
I know, answered Jesus, you say, Christ is the son of David; 
but how can you support your opinion, or render it consistent 
with the words of David, who himself calls him Lord ; and how is 
he his son ? 

It seems that the Jewish doctors did not imagine that their 
Messiah would be endued with any perfections greater than those 
that might be enjoyed by human nature ; for, though they called 
him the Son of God, they had no notion that he had a divine 
power from heaven, and therefore could not pretend to solve the 
difficulty. 

The latter question, however, might have convinced them of their 
error; for, if the Messiah was only to be a secular prince, as they 
supposed, and to rule over the men of his own time, he never could 
have been called Lord by persons who died before he was born ; far 
less would so mighty a prince as David, who was also his progeni- 
tor, have conferred on him that title. Since, therefore, he rules over 
not only those of former ages, but even over the kings from whence 
he was himself descended, and his kingdom comprehends the men 
of all countries and times, past, present, and to come, the doctors, 
if they had thought accurately upon the subject, would have ex- 
pected in their Messiah a king different from all other kings. Beside, 



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he is to sit at God's right hand, " till all his enemies are made hi? 
footstool." 

Such solid reasoning gave the people a high opinion of his wisdom, 
and showed them how far superior he was _£o their most renowned 
rabbins, whose arguments, to prove their opinions and answers to the 
objections which were raised against him, were, in general, very weak 
and trifling. Nay, his foes themselves, from the repeated proofs they 
had received of the prodigious depth of his understanding, were im- 
pressed with such an opinion of his wisdom, that they judged it im- 
possible to entangle him in his talk. Accordingly, they left off 
attempting it, and from that day forth troubled him no more with 
their insidious questions. 

But having mentioned the final conquest and destruction of his 
enemies, who were to be made his footstool, agreeably to the predic- 
tion of the royal Psalmist, he turned towards his disci pice; end, in the 
hearing of the multitude, solemnly cautioned them to beware of the 
Scribes and Pharisees; insinuating thereby who the enemies were 
whose destruction he had mentioned. " The Scribes and the Phari- 
sees," said he, " sit in Moses' seat ; all, therefore, whatsoever they bid 
you observe, that observe and do ; but do not ye after their works ; 
for they say, and do not." Matt, xxiii. 2, 3. 

While they teach the doctrines before delivered by Moses, observe 
all they say, but by no means imitate their practices, for they impose 
many precepts on their disciples which they never perform them* 
selves. "For they bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne^ 
and lay them on men's shoulders ; but they themselves will net move 
them with one of their fingers, But all their works they clo for to be 
seen of men." Matt, xxxiii. 4, etc. 

The difficult precepts they impose on others are never regarded by 
these hypocrites, and any good action they may happen to perform is 
vitiated by the principle from whence it proceeds. They do it only 
with a view to gain popular applause, and not from a regard to God, 
far less from a love of goodness. They are proud and arrogant to 
excess, as is plain from their affected gravity in their clothes, from 
the anxiety they discover lest they should not obtain the principal 
seats in the public assemblies, and from their affecting to be saluted 
in the streets with the sounding titles of rabbi and father. " They 
make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their gar- 
ments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in 



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295 



the synagogues, and greeting in the markets, and to be called of men, 
Rabbi, Rabbi." Matt, xxiii. 5-7. 

The above discourse greatly incensed the scribes and Pharisees, as 
they were pronounced in the hearing of many of that order ; it is, 
therefore, no wonder that they watched every opportunity to destroy 
him. But this was not a time to put their bloody designs in execu- 
tion ; the people set too high a value on his doctrine to suffer any vio- 
lence to be offered to his person, and as this was the last sermon he 
was ever to preach in public, it was necessary that he should use some 
severity, as all his mild persuasions proved ineffectual. He therefore 
denounced, in the most solemn manner, dreadful woes against them, 
not on account of the personal injuries he had received from them, but 
on account of their excessive wickedness. 

They were public teachers of religion, and therefore should have 
used every method in their power to recommend its precepts to the 
people, and to have been themselves shining examples of every duty 
it enjoined ; but, on the contrary, they abused every mark and charac- 
ter of goodness for all the purposes of villany, and, under the cloak of 
a severe and sanctified aspect, they were malicious, implacable, lewd, 
covetous, and rapacious. In a word, instead of being reformers, they 
were corrupters of men, and consequently their wickedness deserved 
the greatest reproof that could be given by the great Redeemer of 
mankind. " Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye 
shut up the kingdom of heaven against men : for ye neither go in 
yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe 
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye devour widows' 
houses, and for a pretence make long prayer : therefore ye shall re- 
ceive the greater damnation. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, 
hypocrites ! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte ; and 
when he is made, ye make him two-fold more the child of hell than 
yourselves." Matt, xxiii. 13, etc. 

He also reproved the pains they had taken in adorning the sepul- 
chres of the prophets, because they pretended a great veneration for 
their memories, and even condemned their fathers w T ho killed them, 
saying, that if they had lived in the days of their fathers, they would 
have opposed such monstrous wickedness, while, at the same time, 
all their actions abundantly proved that they still cherished the same 
spirit they condemned in their fathers, persecuting the messengers of 
the Most High, particularly his only-begotten Son, whom they were 
determined to destroy. " Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypo- 



206 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST, 



crites ! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the 
sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our 
fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of 
the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye 
are the children of them which killed the prophets/ 7 Matt, xxiii. 
29-31. He added, that the Divine Being was desirous of trying 

every method for 
their conversion, 
though all these in- 
stances of mercy were 
slighted, and there 
they must expect 
such terrible ven- 
geance as should be 
a standing monument 
of the Divine dis- 
pleasure against all 
the murders com- 
mitted by the sons 
of men, from the 
foundation of the 
world. 

Having thus laid 
before them their 
heinous guilt and 
dreadful punishment, 
he was, at the 
thought of the calam- 
ities which were soon 
to fall upon them, 
exceedingly moved, 
and his breast filled 
with sensations of 
pity to such a de- 
gree, that unable to 
contain himself, he brake forth into tears, bewailing the hard lot of 
the city of Jerusalem ; for as its inhabitants had more deeply imbrued 
their hands in the blood of the prophets, they were to drink more 
deeply of the punishment due to such crimes. "O Jerusalem, Jeru- 
salem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent 




BEHOLD I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK. 



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297 



unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even 
as a hen gathered! her chickens under her wings, and ye would 
not ! Behold your house is left unto you desolate." Matt, xxlii. 
37, 33. 

This benevolent, as well as pathetic exclamation of our blessed 
Lord, cannot fail to excite in the pious mind the warmest emotions 
of love to the gracious Saviour of mankind, as well as pity for that once 
chosen, but since degenerate race. How often had the Almighty 
called upon them to return from their evil way, before he sent his 
only-begotten Son into the world ! How often, how emphatically did 
the compassionate Jesus entreat them to embrace the merciful terms 
now offered them by the Almighty, and with what unconquerable ob- 
stinacy did they refuse the benevolent offers, and resist the most 
winning expressions of the Divine love ! By the word house, our 
blessed Saviour meant the temple, which was from that time to be left 
unto them desolate : the glory of the Lord, which tlaggai had prophe- 
sied should fill the second house, was now departing from it. Adding, 
" I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, 
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord/ 7 As if he had 
said, As ye have killed the prophets, and persecuted me, whom the 
Father hath sent from the courts of heaven, and will shortly put me, 
who am the Lord of the temple, to death, your holy house shall be 
left desolate, and your nation totally deserted by me ; nor shall vou 
see me any more till ye shall acknowledge the dignity of my character, 
and the importance of my mission, and say with the whole earth, 
" Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Thus did the 
blessed Jesus strip the scribes and Pharisees of their hypocritical 
mask. He treated them with severity, because their crimes were of 
the blackest dye ; and hence we should learn to be really good, and 
not flatter ourselves that we can cover our crimes with the cloak 
of hypocrisy, from that piercing eye from which nothing is con- ' 
cealed. 

The people could not fail being astonished at these discourses, a9 
they had always considered their teachers as the most righteous amongst 
the sons of men. Kay, the persons themselves, against whom they 
were levelled, were confounded, because their own consciences con- 
vinced them of the truth of every particular laid to their charge. 
They therefore knew not what course to pursue ; and in the midst of 
their hesitation, they let Jesus depart without making any attempt to 
seize him, or inflict on him any kind of punishment. 



298 



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CHAPTER XXXI. 

3UR SAVIOUR COMMENDS EVEN THE SMALLEST ACT, BECAUSE IT PROCEEDED FROM 
A TRULY BENEVOLENT MOTIVE — PREDICTS THE DEMOLITION OP THE MAGNIFI- 
CENT TEMPLE AT JERUSALEM, AND DELIVERS SEVERAL INSTRUCTIVE PARABLES. 

Jesus, the infallible preacher of righteousness, having thus exposed 
the secret practices of the scribes and Pharisees, repaired with his dis- 
ciples into the court of the women, called the treasury, from several 
chests being fixed to the pillars of the portico surrounding the court, 
for receiving the offerings of those who came to worship in the tem- 
ple. While he continued in this court, he " beheld how the people 
cast money into the treasury : and many that were rich cast in much. 
And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, 
which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and 
saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath 
cast more in than all they which have cast into the treasury : for all 
they did cast in of their abundance ; but she of her want did cast in 
all that she had, even all her living." Mark xii. 41-44. 

Though the offering given by this poor widow was in itself very 
small, yet, in proportion to the goods of fortune she enjoyed, it was 
remarkably large : for it was all she had, even all her living. In or- 
der, therefore, to encourage charity, and show that it is the disposition 
of the mind, not the magnificence of the offering that attracted the 
regard of the Almighty, the Son of God applauded this poor widow, 
as having given more in proportion than any of the rich. Their of- 
ferings, though great in respect of hers, were but a small part of their 
estates, whereas her offering was her whole stock. And from this pas- 
sage of the gospel we should learn that the poor, who in appearance 
are denied the means of doing charitable offices, are encouraged to do 
all they can ; for how small soever the gift may be, the Almighty, 
who beholds the heart, values it, not according to what it is in itself, 
but according to the disposition with which it is given. On the other 
hand, we should learn from hence that it is not enough for the rich 
that they exceed the poor in the gifts of charity ; they should bestow 
in proportion to their income ; and they would do well to remember 
that a little given, where a little only is left, appears a much nobler 



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299 




EASTERN TENTS — SEA OF GENNESARETH IN THE DISTANCE. 



offering in the sight of the Almighty, and discovers a more benevolent 
and humane temper of mind, than sums much larger bestowed out of 
a plentiful abundance. 

The disciples now remembered that their Master, at the conclusion 
of his pathetic lamentation over Jerusalem, had declared that the 
temple should not any more be favored with his presence, till they 
should say, " Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." 

A declaration of this kind could not fail of greatly surprising his 
disciples ; and, therefore, as he was departing from that sacred struc- 
ture, they desired him to observe the beauty of the building ; insinu- 
ating, that they thought it strange he should intimate an intention of 
leaving it desolate ; that so glorious a fabric, celebrated in every cor- 
ner of the earth, was not to be deserted rashly; and that they should 
think themselves supremely happy, when he, as the Messiah and de- 
scendant of David, should take possession of it, and erect his throne 
in the midst of Jerusalem. And as they went out of the temple, one 



300 



THE LIFE OF C II 11 1ST. 



of his disciples said unto him, " Master, see what manner of stones 
and what buildings are here ! " 

The eastern wall of the temple, which fronted the Mount of Olives, 
whither the disciples, with their Master were then retiring, was built 
from the bottom of the valley to a prodigious height, with stones of 
an incredible bulk, firmly compacted together, and therefore made a 
very grand appearance at a distance. 

The eastern wall is supposed to have been the only remains of Sol- 
omon's temple, and had escaped when the Chaldeans burnt it. But 
this building, however strong or costly it appeared, our Saviour told 
them, should be totally destroyed, " Seest thou/' said he, " these 
great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that 
shall not be thrown down." Mark xiii. 2. 

That noble edifice, raised with much labor and at vast expense, 
shall be razed to the very foundation. The disciples, therefore, when 
they heard their Master affirm, that not so much as one of these enor- 
mous stones, which had withstood the fury of Nebuchadnezzar's army, 
and survived the destructive hand of time, was to be left one upon 
another, they perceived that the whole temple was to be demolished, 
but did not suspect that the sacrifices were to be taken away, and a 
new mode of religion introduced, which rendered the temple unnec- 
essary. 

They therefore flattered themselves that the fabric then standing, 
however glorious it might appear, was too small for the numerous wor- 
shippers who would frequent it, when all the nations of the world 
were subject to the Messiah's kingdom, and was therefore to be pulled 
down, in order to be erected on a more magnificent plan, suitable to 
the idea they had conceived of his future empire. Filled with these 
pleasing imaginations, they received the news with pleasure, medita- 
ting, as they walked to the mountain, on the glorious things which 
were shortly to come to pass. 

When they arrived on the Mount of Olives, and their Master had 
taken his seat on some eminence, from whence they had a prospect of 
the temple and part of the city, his disciples drew near to know 
when the demolition of the old structure was to happen and what 
were to be the siorns of his coming, and of the end of the world. 
" And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto 
him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what 
shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world ? " Matt, 
xxiv. 3. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



SOI 



The disciples, by this request, seemed desirous of knowing what 
gigns should precede the erection of that extensive empire over which 
they supposed the Messiah was to reign, for they still expected he 
would govern a secular kingdom. They, therefore, connected the de- 
molition of the temple with their Master's coming, though they had 
not the least notion that he was to destroy the nation and change the 
form of religious worship. 

They therefore meant by the " end of the world : " or as the words 
should have been translated, the end of the age, the period of the po- 
litical government then executed by heathen procurators, and consid- 
ered their Master's coming to destroy the constitution then subsisting 
as a very desirable event. They also thought the demolition of the 
temple proper, as they expected a larger and more superb building, 
proportioned to the number of the Messiah's subjects, would be erec- 
ted in its stead. 

That this is the real sense of the disciples' question, will sufficiently 
appear, if we consider that they were delighted with the prospect ; 
whereas, if they had meant by the end of the world, the final period 
of all things, the destruction of the temple would have exhibited to 
them, in their present temper of mind, a melancholy prospect which 
they could not have beheld without a deep concern. 

Our blessed Saviour, therefore, was careful to convince them of 
their mistake, by telling them that he was not come to rule a secular 
empire, as they supposed, but to punish the Jews for their perfidy 
and rebellion, by destroying both their temple and nation. " Take 
heed," said he, " that no man deceive you. For many shall come in 
my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many." 

This caution was far from being unnecessary, because, though the 
disciples were to see their Master ascend into heaven, they might 
take occasion from the prophecy to think that he would appear again 
on earth, and therefore be in danger of seduction by the false Christs 
that should arise. te And when ye shall hear of wars, and rumors of 
wars, see that ye be not troubled : for all these things must come to 
pass, but the end is not yet." Before this nation and temple are des- 
troyed, terrible wars will happen in the land : " for nation shall rise 
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom : and there shall be 
famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places." Matt, 
xxiv. 6, 7. 

These are the preludes of the important event, forerunners of the 
evils which shall befall this nation and people, At the same time you 



302 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



shall meet with hot persecutions ; walk, therefore, circumspectly, and 
arm yourselves both with patience and fortitude, that ye may be able 
to perform your duty, through the whole course of these persecutions : 
for you shall be brought before the great men of the earth for my 
sake. " But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no 
thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate ; 
but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye : for it 
is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost,' 7 Mark xiii. 11. 

During this time of trouble and confusion, he told them the perfidy 
of mankind should be so great towards one another, that " brother 
shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son : and children 
shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to 
death." The unbelieving Jews and apostate Christians shall commit 
the most enormous and inhuman crimes. It is, therefore, no wonder 
that the perfidy and wickedness of such pretended Christians should 
discourage many disciples, and greatly hinder the propagation of the 
gospel. But he who lives by faith during these persecutions, and 
is not led astray by the seduction of false Christians, shall escape 
that terrible destruction, which, like a deluge, will overflow the 
land. 

And when Jerusalem shall be surrounded with armies, Pagan 
armies, bearing in their standards the images of their gods, the " abom- 
ination of desolation " mentioned by the prophet Daniel, then let him 
who readeth the predictions of that prophet understand that the end 
of the city and sanctuary, together with the ceasing of sacrifices and 
oblation there predicted is come, and consequently the final period of 
the Jewish polity. 

" Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains ; and let 
them which are in the midst of it depart out." Luke xxi. 21. " Let 
him which is on the house-top not come down to take anything out 
of his house : neither let him which is in the field return back to take 
his clothes." Matt. xxiv. 17, 18. Then shall be fulfilled the awful 
predictions of the prophet Daniel, and the dreadful judgments de- 
nounced against the impenitent and unbelieving. 

In those days of vengeance the women who are with child, and 
those who have infants hanging at their breasts, shall be particularly 
unhappy, because they cannot flee from the impending destruction. 
" But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter," when the bad- 
ness of the roads and the rigor of the season will render speedy 
travelling very troublesome, if not impossible, " neither on the Sabbath 



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303 



day," when you shall think it unlawful. " For then shall be great 
tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this 
time, no, nor ever shall be." Matt. xxiv. 21. This is confirmed by 
what Josephus tells us, that no less than eleven hundred thousand 
perished in the siege. 

The heavenly prophet added, that except the days of tribulation 
should be shortened, none of the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea, 
of whom he was speaking, should escape destruction. In confirmation 
of which Josephus tells us that the quarrels which raged during the 
siege w T ere so fierce and obstinate, that both within the walls of J eru- 
salem and without, in the neighboring country, the whole land w r as 
one continued scene of horror and desolation : and had the siege con- 
tinued much longer, the whole nation of the Jews had been totally 
destroyed, according to our Lord's prediction . " But/' added our 
blessed Saviour, " for the elects' sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath 
shortened the days. " By the elect are meant such of the Jews as had 
embraced the doctrines of the gospel, and particularly those who were 
brought in with the believing Gentiles. 

As it is natural in time of trouble to look with eager expectation 
for a deliverer, our blessed Saviour cautioned his disciples not -to 
listen to any pretences of that kind, as many false Christs would arise 
and deceive great numbers of the people ; a prediction that was fully 
accomplished during the terrible siege of Jerusalem by the Romans i 
so Josephus tells us, that many arose pretending to be the Messiah, 
boasting that they would deliver the nation from all its enemies. And 
the multitude, always too prone to listen to deceivers, who promise 
temporal advantages, giving credit to those deceivers, became more ob- 
stinate in their opposition to the Romans, and thereby rendered their 
destruction more severe and inevitable. 

And what still increased the infatuation of the people was their 
performing wonderful things during the war ; and accordingly Jo- 
sephus calls them magicians and sorcerers. Hence w r e see the pro- 
priety of the caution given by the Son of God, who foretold that " they 
should show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possi- 
ble they would deceive the very elect. But take heed ; behold, I have 
foretold you all things." 

And as the partisans of the false Christs might pretend that the 
Messiah was concealed awhile for fear of the Romans, and the weaker 
sort of Christians, without this warning, have imagined that Christ 
was actually returned to deliver the nation in its extremity, and to 



304 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



punish their enemies, who now so cruelly oppressed them, and that he 
would show himself as soon as it was proper, the blessed Jesus thought 
proper to caution them against this particular. " Wherefore, if they 
shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert ; go not forth : Behold, 
he is in the secret chambers ; believe it not. For as the lightning 
cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west ; so shall also 
the coming of the Son of man be." Matt. xxiv. 26, etc. 

The coming of the Son of man shall be like lightning, swift and 
destructive. But he will come not personally ; his servants only shall 
come, the Roman armies, who, by his command, shall destroy this 
nation as eagles devour their prey. 

Having thus given them a particular account of the various circum- 
stances which should precede the destruction of Jerusalem, he next 
described that catastrophe itself, in all the pomp of language and ima- 
gery made use of by the ancient prophets, when they foretold the 
destruction of cities and kingdoms. " But in those days, after that 
tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give 
her light; and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are 
in heaven shall be shaken." Mark xiii. 24, 25. "And upon the 
earth distress of nations, with perplexity ; the sea and the waves roar- 
ing; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after 
those things which are coming on the earth." Luke xxi. 25, 26. 

By these lofty and figurative expressions, the decaying of all the 
glory, excellency, and prosperity of the nation, and the introduction 
of universal sadness, misery, and confusion are beautifully described. 
The roaring of the sea and the waves may justly be considered as 
metaphorical, as the signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars, 
are plainly so, and by the powers of heaven are meant the Avhole Jew- 
ish polity, government, laws, and religion, which were the work 
of heaven ; these our Lord tells us should be shaken, or rather dis- 
solved. 

As the disciples had, in conformity to the repeated questions of the 
Pharisees, during his ministry, asked what should be the sign of his 
coming, our blessed Saviour told them, that after the tribulation of 
those days, when the sun should be darkened, and all the enemies of 
the Messiah should mourn, they should see the accomplishment of 
what Daniel foretold, by the figurative expression of the Son of man 
coming in the clouds of heaven ; for they should behold the signal 
punishment executed on the Jewish nation by the Roman armies, sent 
for that purpose by the decree and permission of heaven. " Then 



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305 



shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven ; and then shall all 
the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming 
in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory." Matt. xxiv. 
30. Then were the followers of Christ to be delivered from the op- 
pression under which they had long groaned, and openly honored 
before the whole earth ; and on this may true believers rest ; because 
it is founded on eternal truth. " Verily I say unto you, This genera- 
tion shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and 
earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Matt, 
xxiv. 34, 35. • 

Whoever shall compare the prediction of our Saviour with the his- 
tory Josephus Avrote of the war, cannot fail of being struck with the 
wisdom of Christ, acknowledging that his prediction was truly divine 
for as the Jewish nation was at this time in the most flourishing state, 
the event here foretold appeared altogether improbable. Besides, the 
circumstances of the destruction are very numerous and surprisingly 
great ; and the whole delivered without any ambiguity. It is, there- 
fore, a prophecy of such a kind as could never have been uttered 
by any impostor, and consequently the person who delivered it 
was acquainted with the secret councils of heaven, and was truly 
divine. 

Many cavillers against the Christian religion have asked, why 
Christ should order his disciples not to flee from Jerusalem till they 
saw it encompassed with the Roman army, when it would then be 
impossible for them to make their escape? But persons, before they 
propose such questions, would do well to read attentively the history 
Josephus has given us of these terrible calamities, because they would 
there find a solution to the difficulty. That historian tells us, that 
Cestius Gallus surrounded the city with his army, and at a time when 
he could easily have taken the city, suddenly withdrew his forces, 
without any apparent reason. He adds, that as soon as the siege was 
raised many eminent persons fled from it as from a sinking ship. In 
all probability, many of these were Christians, who, being warned by 
this prophecy of their great Master, saved themselves by flight, as he 
had directed. Thus we see what frivolous objections are made by the 
free-thinkers of our age, against the truth of the sacred writings, and 
how easily they are answered. 

Having thus beautifully, but awfully, described this important and 
striking event, the blessed Jesus assured his disciples that it would be 
*rery unexpected, and thence urged the necessity of a watchful vigi- 
20 



80s 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



lance, lest they should be surprised, and have a share in those calami- 
ties. " But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the 
Son of man be." Matt. xxiv. 37. " Watch ye, therefore; for ye 
know not when the Master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, 
or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning ; lest coming suddenly he 
find you sleeping." Mark xiii. 35, 36. 

It was natural, as men were to undergo, at the destruction of Jeru- 
salem, nearly the same miseries, and as the passions which its ap- 
proach would raise in their minds were similar to those which will 
happen at the destruction of the world and the general judgment ; it 
was natural, I say, for our blessed Saviour on this occasion to put his 
disciples in mind of that judgment, and exhort them to the faithful 
discharge of their duty, from the consideration of the suddenness of 
his coming to call every individual to account after death : " There- 
fore be ye also ready ; for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of 
man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his 
Lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due 
season ? Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, 
shall find so doing. Yerily I say unto you, That he shall make him 
ruler over all his goods." Matt. xxiv. 44. etc. As if he had said, 
You who are the ministers of religion ought to be particularly atten- 
tive in discharging the important trust committed to your care. You 
are the stewards to whom is intrusted the whole household of the 
church ; and you would do well to remember that your example will 
have a great effect upon the minds of those employed under you. It 
is your duty to be well acquainted with the stores of evangelical truths, 
and to understand how they may be applied to the best advantage : 
you should be also careful to know the characters of the different per- 
sons under your directions, that you may be able to give every one 
of them his portion of meat in due season ; and if I find you thus em- 
ployed at my coming, I will reward you with the joys of my king- 
dom, even as an earthly master bestoAvs particular marks of respect 
on such servants as have been remarkably faithful in any important 
trust. But, on the other hand, if you are not true to the trust re- 
posed in you ; if you pervert your office, and watch not over the souls 
committed to your care, I will come to you unexpectedly, and make 
you dreadful examples of mine anger, by the severe punishments 
which I will inflict upon you. " But, and if that evil servant shall 
Bay in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming ; and shall begin to 
emite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken ; the 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



30t 



lord of that .servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, 
and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, 
and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites ; there shall be weep- 
ing and gnashing of teeth." Matt. xxiv. 48, etc. 

Having thus generally described the future state of retribution, our 
Lord passed to the consideration of the general judgment, when those 
rewards and punishments should be distributed in their utmost ex- 
tent. This could not fail of animating his disciples to a vigorous 
discharge of their duty; and by the striking representation of the 
last judgment he has here given, must greatly tend to rouse the con- 
sciences of men from their lethargy, and consider before it be too late, 
the things which belong to their peace. 

Then shall the kingdom of heaven, the gospel-kingdom, in the last 
dispensation of it, when the kingdom of grace is going to be swallowed 
up in the kingdom of glory, " be likened unto ten virgins which took 
their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of 
them were wise, and five of them were foolish." They that were 
foolish, took indeed their lamps but put no oil in their vessels, while 
the wise, as an instance of their prudence and foresight, took both 
their lamps and oil in their vessels, knowing that it was uncertain 
when the bridegroom would arrive, and that they might, in all proba- 
bility wait longer for his coming. Nor were they mistaken, for the 
bridegroom did not come so soon as they expected. And while he 
tarried " they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was 
a cry made, Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him ; 
Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the 
foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone 
out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so ; lest there be not enough 
for us and you : but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for your- 
selves. 

" And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came ; and they that 
were ready went in with him to the marriage ; and the door was shut. 
Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to 
us." But he from within answered, and said unto them, " Verily I 
say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither 
the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." Matt. xx\ . 
12, 13. 

In order to understand this parable, we must remember that it 
alludes to the custom of the eastern people. It was usual with them 
for the bridegroom to bring his bride home in the evening, sooner or 



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THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



latei^ as circumstances might happen ; and that they might be re- 
ceived properly at his house, his female acquaintance, especially those 
of the younger sort, were invited to come and wait with lamps, til 1 
some of his retinue, dispatched before the rest, informed them that he 
was near at hand; upon which they trimmed their lamps, went forth 
to welcome him, and conducted him with his bride into the house, for 
wliich they were honored as guests at the marriage feast, and shared 
in the usual festivities. 

To ten such virgins our blessed Saviour compares those to whom 
the gospel is preached, because this was the general number appointed 
to wait on the bridegroom ; and to these all Christian professors may 
S^e likened, who taking their lamps of Christian profession, go forth 
to meet the bridegroom ; that is, consider themselves as candidates for 
the kingdom of heaven, and desire to be admitted with Christ, the 
celestial bridegroom, into the happy mansions of immortality. 

We must remember that there always was, and always will be, a 
mixture of good and bad in the church, till the great day of separa- 
tion arrives. The weakness of the foolish is represented by their 
taking no oil in their vessels with their lamps; that is, the foolish 
professors content themselves with the bare lamp of a profession, and 
never think of furnishing it with the oil of divine grace, the fruit of 
which is a life of holiness; whereas the wise, well knowing that a 
lamp, without the supply of oil, would be speedily extinguished ; that 
faith, without love and holiness, will be of no consequence, take care 
to secure a siqyply for themselves of the divine grace, and to display 
in their lives the works of love and charity. 

While all those virgins, though differently supplied, waiting the 
coming of the bridegroom, all slumbered and slept ; that is, as some 
think all Christians, both good and bad, the sincere and the hypocrite, 
lie clown together in the sleep of death; and while the bridegroom 
delays his coming, slumber in the chambers of the dust. But others 
suppose, that this argues the want of vigilance and care, even in the 
wise as well as the foolish ; that few, if any, are so attentive as they 
ought to' be, to the coming of the Lord. 

The Jews have a tradition, that Christ's coming to judgment will 
be at midnight, which agrees with that particular in the parable, "At 
midnight there was a cry made, Go ye out to meet him." But how- 
ever this be, whether he will come at midnight, or in the morning, it 
will be awfully sudden and alarming. The great cry will be heard to 
the ends of the earth. The trumpet shall sound, and the mighty 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



309 



archangel's voice pierce even the bowels of the earth, and the depths 
of the ocean. " Behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet 
him." 

The graves, both earthly and watery, must surrender their clayey 
tenants, and all will then begin to think how they may prepare them- 
selves to find admittance to the marriage-supper of the Lamb. " Then 
all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps." But the foolish 
soon perceived their folly :. their lamps were gone out, totally extin- 
guished, and they had no oil to support the flame : in like manner 
the hypocrite's hope shall perish. But the wise were in a much 
happier condition ; they had oil in their vessels, sufficient for them- 
selves, but none to spare ; for, when the foolish virgins would have 
procured some from them, they denied their request, fearing there 
would not be enough for both. 

There are here beautifully represented, nominal and sincere Chris- 
tians ; the former having only the bare lamp of a profession ; who 
have not been solicitous to gain the oil of divine grace, by a constant 
use of the means assigned, will fare like the foolish virgins ; while the 
latter, whose hearts are stocked with divine oil, will, like the wise 
virgins, enter into the joy of their Lord. 

But the foolish, going to purchase oil, missed the bridegroom, and 
behold the door was shut. They at last, however, reached the gate, 
and with great importunity cried, " Lord, Lord, open unto us." 
But he answered and said, " Verily I say unto you, I know you not." 
As you denied me on earth, I deny you now ; depart from me, I know 
you not ! 

But as this duty was of the utmost importance, our blessed Saviour, 
to show us more clearly the nature and use of Christian watchfulness, 
to which he exhorts us at the conclusion of the parable of the ten 
virgins, added another, wherein he represented the different charac- 
ters of a faithful and slothful servant, and the difference of their 
future acceptation. 

The Son of man, said he, may, with respect to his final coming to 
judge the world, be likened " unto a man travelling into a far coun- 
try, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 
And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; 
to every man according to his several abilities ; and straightway took 
his journey." Matt. xxv. 14, 15. 

Immediately, on his master's departure, he that had received the 
five talents lost no time, but went and traded with the same, and his 



310 



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311 



increase was equal to his industry and application ; he made them 
other five talents. He that had received two talents did the same, 
and had equal success. But he that received one, very unlike 
the conduct of his fellow-servants, went his way, digged in the 
earth, and hid his lord's money, idle, useless, unemployed, and un- 
improved. 

After a long time, and at an hour when they did not expect it, the 
Lord of those servants returned, called them before him, and ordered 
them to give an account of their several trusts. Upon which he that 
had received five talents, as a proof of his fidelity, produced other five 
talents, saying, " Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents ■ behold, 
I have gained besides them five talents more." His Lord, highly 
applauding his industry and fidelity, said to him, " Well done, thou 
good and faithful servant : thou hast been faithful over a few things, 
I will make thee ruler over many things : enter thou into the joy of 
thy Lord." 

In like manner, also, he that had received two talents declared 
he had gained two others ; upon which he was honored with the 
same applause, and admitted into the same joy with his fellow- 
servant ; their master having regard to the industry and fidelity of 
his servants, not to the number of the talents only, by the greatness 
of their increase. 

After this, he that had received the one talent came, and, with a 
shameful falsehood, to excuse his vile indolence, said, " Lord, I knew 
thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, 
and gathering where thou hast not strawed : and I was afraid, and 
went and hid thy talent in the earth : lo, there thou hast that is 
thine." Matt. xxv. 24, 25. 

This perversion of even the smallest portion of grace greatly ex- 
cited the resentment of his Lord, who answered, " Thou wicked and 
slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and 
gather where I have not strawed : thou oughtest therefore to have 
put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should 
have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent 
from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto 
every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; 
but from him that hath not, shall be taken away even that which 
he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer dark- 
ness; there shall be weeping and gnashing, of teeth," Matt*, xxv, 
26-30. 



312 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



Such is the parable of the talents, as delivered by our blessed 
Saviour; a parable containing the measures of our duty to God, 
and the motives that enforce it, all delivered in the plainest and 
simplest manner. But its views are so extensive and affecting, that 
while it instructs the meanest capacity, it engages reverence and at- 
tention from the greatest, and strikes an impression on the most im- 
proved understanding. We are to consider God as our Lord and 
Master, the author and giver of every good gift, and ourselves 
as his servants, or stewards, who, in various instances and measures, 
have received from his goodness such blessings and abilities as may 
fit us for the several stations and offices of life to which his provi- 
dence appoints us. But then we are to observe, that these are 
committed to us as a trust, or loan, for whose due management we 
are accountable to the donor. If we faithfully acquit ourselves of 
this probationary charge, we shall receive far greater instances of 
God's regard and favor; but if we are remiss and negligent, we must 
expect to feel his resentment and displeasure. A time will come, and 
how near it may be none of us can tell, when our great Master will 
demand a particular account of every talent he hath committed to our 
care. 

This time may indeed be at a distance, for it is uncertain when the 
king of terrors will receive the awful warrant to terminate our ex- 
istence here below ; yet it will certainly come, and our eternal happi- 
ness or misery depends upon it; so that we should have it continually 
in our thoughts, and engraven, as with the point of a diamond, on 
the tables of our hearts. 

We shall now proceed to the third parable, or rather description, 
-delivered at the same time by the blessed Jesus, namely, that of the 
last judgment. " When the Son of man," said he, " shall come in 
his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the 
throne of his glory : and before him shall be gathered all nations; 
and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth 
his sheep from the goats : and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, 
but the goats on the left." Matt. xxv. 31-33. It is common in the 
Old Testament to compare good men to sheep, on account of their in- 
nocence and usefulness, and wicked men to goats, for their exorbitant 
lusts. Our blessed Saviour, however, does not pursue the allegory 
further, but describes the remaining, and indeed the greatest part of 
this awful scene in terms perfectly simple ; so that though the sense 
be profound, it is obvious. Here the judgment of all nations, Gen- 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



313 



tiles as well as Christians, is exhibited ; and the particulars on 
which these awful trials are to proceed displayed by the great Judge 
himself. 

Here we learn that we shall be condemned or acquitted, according 
as we have neglected or performed works of charity, works which 
flow from the great principles of faith and love, and which the very 
heathen are, by the light of reason, invited to perform. But we 
must not understand that such works merited this favor from the 
Judge : no, all who are acquitted at that day, whether Heathen or 
Christians, shall be acquitted solely on account of the life and death 
of Christ, the true, the only meritorious cause. 

" Then shall the King say unto them on the right hand, Come, ye 
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from 
the foundation of the world. For I was an hungered, and ye gave 
me meat : I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink : I was a stranger, « 
and ye took me in : naked, and ye clothed me : I was sick, and ye 
visited me : I was in prison, and ye came unto me." Matt. xxv. 34-36. 

These enraptured and amazed souls shall then ask, with great rev- 
erence and humility, when they performed these services, as they 
never saw him in want, and therefore could not assist him. " Lord, 
when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee ? or thirsty, and gave 
thee drink ? when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in ? or na- 
ked, anel clothed thee ? or when saw we thee sick, or in jDrison, and 
came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, 
Verily I say unto -you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the 
least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matt. xxv. 37 
-40. This is truly astonishing ! The united wisdom of men and an- 
gels could never have discovered a more proper method to convey an 
idea of the warmth and force of the divine benevolence to the sons 
of men, or offer a more forcible motive to charity, than that the Son 
of God himself should, from his seat of judgment, in presence of the 
whole race of mankind, and all the hosts of blessed spirits from the 
courts of heaven, declare that all good offices done to the afflicted for 
his sake are clone to himself. During the time of his dwelling with 
human nature in this vale of tears, he suffered unspeakable injuries 
and afflictions ; and therefore he considers all the righteous who are 
distressed as members of his body, loves them with the utmost ten- 
derness, and is so greatly interested in their welfare that he rejoices 
when they are happy, and, humanely speaking, grieves when they are 
distressed. 



314 THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

OUR BLESSED LORD IS ANOINTED BY A POOR BUT PIOUS WOMAN — THE PER- 
FIDIOUS JUDAS CONSENTS TO BETRAY HIS MASTER — THE HUMBLE JESUS 
WASHES THE FEET OF HIS DISCIPLES, AND FORETELLS THAT DISCIPLE WHO 
WAS TO BETRAY HIM INTO THE HANDS OF HIS INVETERATE ENEMIES 

The blessed Jesus used frequently to retire in the evening from the 
city to the Mount of Olives, and there spend the night, either in some 
village or the gardens, either to avoid falling into the hands of his 
enemies, or for the sake of retirement. They did not indeed presume 
to attack him while he was surrounded by his followers in the day- 
time; but in all probability, had he lodged within the city, they 
would have apprehended him during the darkness and silence of the 
night. 

When our blessed Saviour had finished these parables, he added a 
short account of his own death, in order to fortify his disciples against 
a greater trial than they had yet met with, namely, the sufferings of 
their Master. " And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all 
these sayings, he said unto his disciples, Ye know that after two days 
is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be 
crucified. Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, 
and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who 
was called Caiaphas, and consulted that they might take Jesus by 
subtilty, and kill him. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest 
there be an uproar among the people. 7 ' Matt. xxvi. 1-5. 

When the evening approached, our blessed Saviour, with his 
disciples, repaired to Bethany, and entered the house of Simon the 
leper, probably one who had experienced the healing efficacy of his 
power. But while he sat at meat a woman, who had also doubtless 
been an object of his mercy, poured a box of precious ointment upon 
his head. 

The action displeased his disciples, who knew that their Master 
was not delighted with luxuries of any kind ; and therefore they 
rebuked the woman, imagining that it would have been more 
acceptable to the Son of God, if the ointment had been sold and 
the money distributed among the sons and daughters of poverty and 
affliction. 



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THE LIFE OP CHRIST. 



To reprove the disciples, Jesus told them that it pleased the divine 
Providence to order that there should always be persons in necessi- 
tous circumstances, that the virtuous might never want occasions for 
exercising their charity ; but that those who did not now testify their 
love to him would never more have the opportunity of doing it, as 
the time of his ministry was near its period, when the king of terrors 
should enjoy a short triumph over his body ; and therefore this wo- 
man had seasonably anointed him for his burial. And to make them 
sensible of their folly, in blaming the woman for this her expression 
of love to him, he assured them that she should be highly esteemed 
for this action in every part of the world, and her memory live to the 
latest period of time. Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, having been 
more forward than the rest, in condemning the woman, thought the 
rebuke was particularly directed to him. Stung with the guilt of 
his conscience, he rose from the table, went immediately into the 
city, to the high priest's palace, where he found the whole counsel 
assembled. His passion would not suffer him to reflect on the 
horrid deed he was going to commit; he immediately promised, for 
the reward of thirty shekels of silver, to betray into their hands his 
Lord and Master. 

Having thus engaged with the rulers of Israel to put into their 
hands a person who had been long laboring for their salvation, 
who had often invited them, in the most pathetic manner, to embrace 
the benevolent terms of the gospel offered by the Almighty, he 
sought an opportunity to betray him, in the absence of the mul- 
titude ! 

Our Lord, who well knew that the time of his suffering drew 
nigh, desired therefore to celebrate the passover with his disciples. 
He was now going to finish the mighty work for which he came 
into the world, and therefore would not neglect to fulfil the smallest 
particular of the law of Moses, He therefore sent two of his 
disciples into the city to prepare a lamb, and make it ready for eat- 
ing the passover ; telling them that they should meet a man bearing 
a pitcher of water, who would conduct them to his house, and show 
them a large upper room, furnished, where they were to make ready 
for him. 

He was willing, in this last transaction, to convince his disciples 
that he knew everything that should befall him ; that his sufferings 
were all predetermined by the Almighty, and that they were all on 
his own account submitted unto voluntarily. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST, 



31t 



When night approached, Jesus left Bethany, and everything being 
ready for him at the time he entered into the city, he sat down at the 
appointed hour. But knowing that his suffering was now near, he 
told his disciples, in the most affectionate manner, that he had greatly 
longed to eat the passover with them before he suffered, in order to 
show them the strongest proofs of his love. These proofs were to 
give them a pattern of humility and charity, by washing their feet, 
instructing them in the nature of his death, and a propitiatory sacri- 
fice, instituting the sacrament in commemoration of his sufferings ; 
comforting them by the tender discourses recorded, (John xiv. xv. 
xvi.) in which he gave them a variety of excellent directions, together 
with many gracious promises; and recommending them to the kind 
protection of his heavenly Father. " With desire I have desired to 
eat this passover with you before I suffer : for I say unto you, I will 
not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God." 
Luke xxii. 15, 16. 

Having thus spoken, he arose from the table, laid aside his garment 
like a servant, and, with all the officiousness of an humble minister, 
washed the feet of his disciples, without distinction, though one of 
them, Judas Iscariot, was a monster of impiety, that they might at 
once behold a conjunction of charity and humility, of self-denial and 
indifference, represented by a person glorious beyond expression, their 
great Lord and Master. 

He washed their feet (according to a custom which prevailed 
those hot countries, both before and after meat), in order to show them 
an example of the utmost humility and condescension. 

The omnipotent Son of the Father lays everything aside, that he 
may serve his followers : heaven stoops to earth, one abyss calls upon 
another, and the miseries of man, which were almost infinite, are ex- 
ceeded by a mercy equal to the immensity of the Almighty. 

He deferred this ceremony, which was a customary civility paid to 
honorable strangers at the beginning of their feast, that it might be 
preparatory to the second, which he intended should be a feast to the 
whole world, when all the followers of the blessed Jesus should have 
an opportunity, in a spiritual manner, of feeding on his flesh and 
drinking his blood. When our blessed Saviour came to Peter he 
modestly declined it ; but his Master told him, if he refused to sub- 
mit implicitly to all his orders, he could have no part with him. 
On which Peter cried out, " Lord, not my feet only, but also my 
hands and my head." But Jesus told him that the person who had 



$18 



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bathed himself had no reason to wash any part of the body, except 
his feet, which he might have dirtied by walking from the bath. 
And added, Ye are all clean as to the outward laver, but not as 
to the inward and spiritual laver. I well know that one of you will 
betray me* % 

When our gracious Lord had finished this menial service, he asked 
his disciples if they knew the meaning of what he had done, as the 
action was purely emblematical. You truly, added he, style me 
Master and Lord, for I am the Son of God and the Saviour of 
the world. But if I, your Master and your Lord, have conde- 
scended to wash your feet, you surely ought to perform, with 
the iftmost pleasure, the humblest offices of love one to another. 
I have set you a pattern of humility, and I recommend it to you. 

And certainly nothing can more effectually show us the necessity 
of this heavenly temper of mind than its being recommended to us 
by so great an example : a recommendation which, in the present cir- 
cumstances, was particularly seasonable; for, the disciples having 
heard their great Master declare that the kingdom of heaven was at 
hand, their minds were rilled with ambitious thoughts. And there^ 
fore our blessed Saviour added, Ye need not be ashamed to follow 
my example in this particular ; for no servant can think it beneath 
him to condescend to perform those actions his lord has done before 
him. And therefore, if he knows his duty, he will be happy if he 
practices it. He moreover added, that though he had called them all 
to the apostleship, and well knew the secret dispositions of every 
heart before he chose them, they need not be surprised that one among 
them should prove a traitor, as thereby the scripture would be ful- 
filled, He that eateth bread with me hath lift up his heel against me. 
As our blessed Saviour was now to be but a short time with his dis- 
ciples, he thought proper to take his farewell of them, which he did 
in a most affectionate manner. 

These melancholy tidings greatly troubled them. They were un- 
willing to part with so kind a friend, so dear a master, so wise a 
guide, and so profitable a teacher • especially as they thought they 
should be left in a forlorn condition, a poor and helpless prey to the 
rage and hatred of a blind and malicious generation. 

They seem willing to die with their Lord, if that might be ac- 
cepted. Why cannot I follow thee? I will lay down my life for 
thee, was the language of one, and even all of them ; but they could 
not support the thoughts of a disconsolate separation. Their great and 



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319 



compassionate Master seeing them thus dejected, endeavored to cheer 
their drooping spirits : " Let not your hearts be troubled." Listen 
attentively to what I am going to deliver for your consolation, " I 
am going to prepare a place for you ; I will come again and receive 
you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also." A reviving 
word of promise ! they were one day to meet again their dear, their 
affectionate Master, in a place where they should live together to all 
eternity. 

But death makes so vast a distance between friends, and the dis- 
ciples then knew so little of a future state, that they seemed to doubt 
whether they should, after their parting, meet their great Redeemer. 
They neither knew the place where he was going, nor the way that 
led to his kingdom. " Lord," said they, " as we know not whither 
thou goest, how can we know the way ? " In answer to this question, 
he told them that he was " the way, the truth, and the life ; " as if he 
had said, Through the propitiatory sacrifice I am about to offer ; the 
sacred truths I have delivered, and the divine assistance, which 1 
shall hereafter dispense, you are to obtain that happiness which I go 
to prepare for you. 

But, lest all these arguments should not be sufficient to quiet their 
minds, he had still another, which could not fail of success : " If ye 
love me," says he, "ye will rejoice, because I said I go to the Father 
intimating that he would consider it as a proof of their love to him 
if they ceased to mourn. 

They doubtless thought, that by grieving for his death, they ex- 
pressed their love to their Master ; and it might seem strange that our 
Saviour should put so contrary an interpretation on their friendly sor- 
row, or require so unnatural a thing of them, as to rejoice at his de- 
parture. What ! (might they think) shall we rejoice at so amiable a 
friend's removal from us ? or can we be glad that he retires, and leaves 
us in this vale of misery? No, it is impossible; the human heart, on 
so melancholy an occasion, can have no disposition to rejoice. 

Our blessed Saviour, therefore, adds this reason to solve the seem- 
ing paradox; "because he was going to the Father;" that is, he was 
going to ascend to the right hand of infinite power, from Avhence he 
would send them all the assistance they could desire. It must not, 
however, be supposed that he meant by these words, that his disciples 
should not be concerned at his death, or that they could not love him 
unless they expressed a visible joy on this occasion. That would, in- 
deed, have been a hard interpretation of their grief: he knew their 



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grief flowed from love ; and that if their love had not been strong, 
their sorrow had been much less. Indeed, their Master was fully 
convinced that love was the occasion of their sorrow ; and, therefore, 
he used these arguments to mitigate it, and direct it in a proper 
course. 

Nor did our Lord intend to intimate that all sorrow for so worthy 
a friend was unlawful, or an unbecoming expression of their love ; 
doubtless he was not displeased to see his disciples so tenderly affected 
at his removal from them. He who shed tears at the grave of Laza* 
rus, blended with sighs and groans, cannot be thought to forbid them 
wholly at his own. He, therefore, did not chide his disciples with 
angry reproaches, as though they had been entirely in the wrong, 
but gently reasoned with them by kind persuasions. "Let not 
your hearts be troubled, " as rather pitying than condemning their 
sorrow. 

Soon after Jesus had spoken these things, his heart was greatly 
troubled, to think that one of his disciples should prove his enemy : 
he complained of it at the table, declaring that one of them should 
betray him. This moving declaration greatly affected the disciples, 
and they began every one of them to say to their Master, "Lord, is it 
I?" But Jesus, giving them no decisive answer, John, the beloved 
disciple, whose sweet disposition and other amiable qualities is per- 
petuated in the peculiar love his great Master bore him, and was now 
reclining on his bosom, asked him, who among the disciples could be 
guilty of so detestable a crime. Jesus told him that the person to 
whom he should give the sop, when he had dipped it, was he who 
should betray him. Accordingly, as soon as he had dipped the sop 
in the dish, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, saying to him at the same 
time, " That thou doest do quickly. v 

Judas received the sop without knowing anything of what his Mas- 
ter had told the beloved disciple ; nor did any of the disciples, except 
St. John, entertain the least suspicion that Judas was the person who 
would betray their Master. The innocent disciples were indeed so 
deeply affected with his declaration, that one of them should betray 
him, that they did not remark the words of Jesus to his apostate dis- 
ciple, but continued to ask him who was the person that should be 
guilty of so base a crime. 

Willing at last to satisfy their importunity, the blessed Jesus de- 
clared, that the person who dipped his hand with him in the dish 
should betray him. This to the eleven was a joyful declaration, but 

4 



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321 



confounding in the highest degree to Judas. Impudent as he was, it 
struck him speechless, pointing him oul plainly, and displaying the 
foulness of his heart. 

While Judas continued mute with confusion, the blessed Jesus de- 
clared that his death should be brought about according to the de- 
crees of Heaven, though that would not in the least mitigate the crime 
of the person who betrayed him ; adding, " it had been good for that 
man if he had not been born." Judas having now recovered himself 
a little, asserted his innocence by a question which implied a denial of 
the charge. But his Master soon silenced him, by positively affirm- 
ing that he was really the person. 

As various conjectures have been formed concerning the motives 
which induced the perfidious Judas cruelly to deliver up his innocent 
Master into the hands of his enemies, it may not be improper to cite 
those which appear to be the most probable, though the decision must 
be entirely left to the reader. 

Some are of opinion that he was induced to commit this villany by 
the resentment of the rebuke given him by his Master for blaming the 
woman who came with the precious ointment, and anointed the head 
of Jesus, as he sat at meat in the house of Simon the leper. 

But though this had doubtless its weight with the traitor, yet it 
could not, I think, be his only motive, because the rebuke was given 
in general to all the disciples, who had certainly been forward with 
him in censuring the woman. Nor can we imagine, even if he had 
been rebuked alone, that so mild a reproof could provoke any person, 
however wicked, to the horrid act of murdering his friend, much less 
Judas, whose covetous disposition must have disposed him to bear 
everything from his Master, from whom he expected the highest pre- 
ferment, if he should openly declare himself the Messiah, and take 
the reins of government into his own hands. 

Others think that Judas betrayed his Master through covetousness. 
But if we understand by covetousness the reward given by the priests, 
this opinion is equally defective ; for the sum was too small for the 
most sordid wretch to think equivalent to the life of a friend, especi- 
ally when he expected from him the highest posts and advantages. 

Others attribute the perfidy of Judas to his doubting whether his 
Master was the Messiah, and that he betrayed him in a fit of despair. 
But of all the solutions this is the worst founded. For if Judas be- 
lieved his Master to be an impostor, he must have observed something 
in his behavior which led him to form such an opinion of him ; an.4 
21 



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THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



in. that case he would doubtless have mentioned it to the chief priest? 
and elders, when he made the contract with them; which it is plain 
lie did not, as they would have reminded him of it when he came 
back and expressed his remorse for what he had done. 

It should also be observed, that had Judas given them any intima- 
tions of this kind, they would doubtless have urged them against our 
blessed Saviour himself in the course of his trial, when they were at 
so great a loss for witnesses to support their accusations ; and against 
the apostles afterwards, when they reproved them for speaking in the 
name of Jesus. Besides had Judas thought his Master an impostor, 
and proposed nothing by his treachery but the price he put upon his 
life, how came he to sell him for such a trifle, when he well knew that 
the chief priests and rulers would have given him any sum, rather 
than not have got him into their hands? 

In fine, the supposition that Judas believed his Master to be an 
impostor is directly confuted by the solemn declaration he made to 
the priests, when he declared the deepest conviction of the innocence 
of our great Redeemer. "I have sinned," said he, "in betraying the 
innocent blood." 

It must be remembered that the remorse he felt for this crime, 
when he saw his Master condemned, was too bitter to be endured, so 
that he fled even to the king of terrors for relief. 

The evangelist St. John tells us that he Avas of so covetous a dispo- 
sition as to steal money out of our Lord's bag ; and hence we have 
sufficient reason to believe that he first followed Jesus with a view of 
obtaining riches and other temporal advantages, which he expected 
the Messiah's friends would enjoy. It likewise authorizes us to think, 
that as he had hitherto reaped none of these advantages he might 
grow impatient under the delay ; and the rather as Jesus had lately 
discouraged all ambitious views among his disciples, and neglected 
to embrace the opportunity of erecting that kingdom, which was 
offered him by the multitude who accompanied him into Jerusalem 
with shouts, and crying Uosanna to the Son of David. His impa- 
tience, therefore, becoming excessive, suggested to him the thought of 
delivering his Master into the hands of the council, firmly persuaded 
that he would then be obliged to assume the dignity of the Messiah, 
and consequently be able to reward his followers. For as this court 
was composed of the chief priests, elders, and scribes ; that is, the 
principal persons of the sacerdotai order, the representatives of the 
great families and the doctors of the law, the traitor did not doubt 



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323 



that his Master, when brought before so august an assembly, would 
assert his pretensions to the title of Messiah, prove his claim to their 
lull conviction, gain them over to his interest, and immediately enter 
on his regal dignity. And though he must be sensible that the meas- 
ures he took to compass his intention were very offensive to his Mas- 
ter, yet he might think the success of it would procure his pardon 
from so compassionate a Master, and even recommend him to favor. 
In the meantime his project, however plausible it may appear to one 
of his turn, was far from being free from difficulty ; and therefore, 
while he revolved it in his own mind, many things might occur to 
stagger his resolution. 

At length, thinking himself affronted by the rebuke of Jesus, at 
the time when the woman anointed the head of his Master, he was 
provoked to execute the resolution he had formed of obliging him to 
alter his measures. Rising, therefore, directly from the table, he 
went immediately into the city, to the palace of the high priest, where 
he found the council assembled, consulting how they might take Jesus 
by subtilty, in the absence of the multitude. To them he made known 
his intention of delivering his Master into their hands, and undertook, 
for a small sum of money, to conduct a band of armed men to the 
place where the Saviour of the world usually spent the night with his 
disciples, where they might apprehend him without the least danger 
of a tumult. Some reasons may be offered in support of this opinion 
concerning the motives which induced Judas to betray his Master. 
First — from the nature of the contract, " What will ye give me," said 1 
he, "and I will deliver him unto you?" He did not mean that he 
would deliver him up to be put to death ; for though the priests had 
consulted among themselves how they might destroy Jesus, they had 
not been so abominably wicked as to declare their intention publicly ; 
they only proposed to bring him to trial for assuming the character 
of the Messiah, and to treat him as it should appear he deserved. 

The offer, therefore, which Judas made them of delivering him up- 
was in conformity to their public resolutions. Nor did they under- 
stand it in any other light, for had the priests thought that his design 
in this was to get his Master punished with death, they must also- 
have thought that he believed him to be an impostor, in which case- 
they would doubtless have produced him as one of their principal ev- 
idences, no person being more proper. Also, when Judas returned to- 
them with the money, declaring that he had sinned in betraying the 
innocent blood, instead of replying, " What is that to us? see thou to 



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that/' it was the most natural thing in the world to have upbraided 
him with the stain he had put upon his Master's character, by the 
contract they had made with him. 

It is true they called the mDney they gave him, "the price of blood : r 
but they did not mean this in the strictest sense, as they had neither 
hired Judas to assassinate his Master, nor can they be supposed to 
have charged themselves with the guilt of murdering him. It was 
only the price of blood consequent on being the reward they hac? 
given to the traitor for putting it in their power to take away the life 
of Christ under the color and form of public justice. 

Now it may be doubted whether Judas asked the money as a re- 
ward of his service. He covetously, indeed, kept it; and the priests, 
for that reason, called it the price of blood. In short, Judas knew 
that the rulers could not take away the life of any person whatsoever, 
the Romans having deprived them of that power, and therefore some 
think he could have no design of this kind in delivering him up : not 
to mention that it was a common opinion among the Jews, that the 
Messiah could never die : an opinion that Judas might easily embrace, 
having seen his Master raise several persons, and among the rest, one 
who had been in the grave no less than four days. 

Another reason which may be assigned in confirmation of this 
opinion is, the traitor's hanging himself when he found him condemned 
not by the governor, but by the council, whose prerogative it was to 
judge prophets. Had Judas proposed to take away the life of his 
Master, the sentence of condemnation passed upon him, instead of fill- 
ing him with despair, must have gratified him, being the accomplish- 
ment of his project; whereas the light wherein we have endeavored 
to place his conduct shows this circumstance to have been perfectly 
natural. 

He knew him to be thoroughly innocent ; and expected that he 
would have wrought such miracles before the council as should have 
constrained them to believe. Therefore, when he found that nothing 
of this kind was done, and that the priests had passed the sentence of 
condemnation upon him, and were carrying him to the governor to 
get it executed, he repented of his rash and covetous project, came to 
the chief priests and elders, the persons to whom he had betrayed him, 
offered them their money again, and solemnly declared the deepest 
conviction of his Master's innocence, hoping that they would have 
desisted from the prosecution. But they were obstinate, and would 
Qof relent : upon which his remorse arose to such a pitch, that, unable 



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325 



to support the torments of his own conscience, lie went and hanged 
himself. 

Thus it is probable that the traitor's intention in delivering up his 
Master was not to get him punished with death, but only to lay him 
under a necessity of proving his pretensions before the grandees, whom 
he had hitherto shunned ; thinking that if they had yielded, the 
whole nation would immediately have been raised forthwith to the 
summit of their expectations. 

This account of Judas's conduct is by no means calculated to lessen 
the foulness of his crime, which was the blackest imaginable. For 
even in the light above mentioned, it implied both an insatiable ava- 
rice and a wilful opposition to the counsels of Providence, and ren- 
dered the actor of it a disgrace to human nature. But it is calculated 
to set the credibility of the traitor's action in a proper light, and to 
show that he was not moved to it by anything suspicious in the char- 
acter of his Master; because, according to his view of it, his perfidy, 
instead of implying that he entertained suspicions of his Master's in- 
tegrity, plainly proves that he had the fullest conviction of his being 
the Messiah. Nor was it possible for any one who had been present 
at the miracles which Jesus wrought and the doctrines which he de- 
livered, to admit of a doubt of his being the Son of God, the Saviour 
of mankind, unless blinded by the most obstinate prejudice. 




JESUS SUPPORTS THE SIXKISTG PETER. 



32$ 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

JESUS INSTITUTES THE SACRAMENT IN COMMEMORATION OF HIS DEATH AND SUF- 
FERINGS — SETTLES A DISPUTE WHICH AROSE AMONG HIS DISCIPLES — PREDICTS 
PETER'S COWARDICE IN DENYING HIS MASTER — FORTIFIES HIS DISCIPLES AGAINST 
THE APPROACHING SHOCK — FORETELLS PETER'S COWARDICE AGAIN — PREACHES 
TO AND PRAYS AVITH HIS DISCIPLES FOR THE LAST TIME — PASSIONATE ADDRESS 
OF OUR LORD TO HIS FATHER IN THE GARDEN. 

The great Redeemer, ever mindful of the grand design of his mis- 
s-ion, even the salvation of lost and perishing sinners, was not in the 
least prevented by the treachery of his apostate disciple; for knowing 
that he must become a sacrifice for sin, etc., he instituted the sacra- 
ment of his supper, to perpetuate the memory of it throughout all 
ages. 

Accordingly, as they were eating the paschal supper, "Jesus took 
bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and 
said, Take, eat ; this is my body." Matt. xxvi. 26. 

Observe this rite no longer in remembrance of your deliverance 
from Egypt, but in remembrance of me, who, by dying for you, will 
bring you out of a spiritual bondage, a bondage far worse than the 
Egyptian, under which your fathers groaned, and will establish you 
in the glorious liberty of the children of God. Do it in remembrance 
of me, who, by laying down my life, will ransom you from sin, from 
death, from hell, and will set open the gates of heaven to you, that 
you may enter immortality in triumph. 

Having given the bread to his disciples, he also took the cup, and 
gave it to them, saying, " Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of 
the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." 
Matt. xxvi. 27, 28. All of you, and all of my disciples, in all ages, 
must drink of this cup, because it represents my blood shed for the 
remission of the sins of mankind ; my blood, by which the new cove- 
nant between God and man is ratified. It is, therefore, my blood of 
the new covenant; so that this institution exhibits to your joyful med- 
itation the grand basis of the hopes of the children of men, and per- 
petuates the memory of it to the end of the world. He added, 
**I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine, until that day 



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327 



when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." Matt. 
xxvL 29. 

The manifestation of the Son of God is the most illustrious, the most 
momentous event that is possible to engage the meditations of man- 
kind. To his life and death, his resurreetion and ascension into 
glory, we are indebted for our hopes and assurances of pardon, for our 
peace, for our happiness. To procure our salvation, he made the most 
amazing condescension from the dignity he enjoyed with his Father, 
by putting on the veil of flesh ; he poured divine instruction from 
his lips, and shone forth with an all-perfect and all-lovely example. 
For our benefit he submitted to a course of the most cruel treatment, 
from his bitter enemies, to the agonies of the cross, and to the stroke 
of the king of terrors. For our happiness he arose again with power 
and lustre, ascended into the mansions of eternal happiness, manages 
our affairs with the Father, and holds the reins of government. With 
the greatest wisdom and goodness, therefore, this beneficent Jesus in- 
stituted a rite that should recall his love to our memories, and awake 
each pious passion in our breast ; a rite which, by the breaking of 
bread, and the pouring out of wine, should represent to us in a 
striking manner that most signal proof of the affection both of himself 
and his heavenly Father, when his tender frame was exposed to 
wounds and bruises, when streams of the most precious blood issued 
from his sacred veins. 

The important, the awful scene, now approached, when the great 
work was to be finished. The traitor Judas was gone to the chief 
priests and elders for a band of soldiers to apprehend him ; but this 
did not discompose the Redeemer of mankind ; he took occasion to 
meditate on the glory that would accrue both to himself and to the 
Almighty from those sufferings, and spake of it to his disciples. 
" Now," said he, " is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified 
in him." He told them, that having already done honor to his 
Father, by the past actions of his life, and being about to honor 
him yet further, by his sufferings and death, which would display 
his perfections, particularly his infinite love to the human race, 
in the most astonishing and amiable light, he was, in his turn, 
to receive honor from his Father ; intimating that his human 
nature was to be exalted to the right hand of Omnipotence, and 
that his mission from God was to be supported by irrefragable at- 
testations. 

But his disciples, imagining that he spake of the glory of a tempo- 



328 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



ral kingdom, their ambition was again revived, and they began U 
dispute with as much keenness as ever, which of them should be 
greatest in that kingdom. This contention Jesus suppressed by the 
arguments he had formerly used for the same purpose. Among the 
Gentiles, said he, they are reckoned the greatest who have the great- 
est power, and have exercised it in the most absolute manner: but 
your greatness shall be very different from theirs : it shall not consist 
in being unlimited with regard to tyrannical power, even though it 
should be joined with an affectation of titles, which denote qualities 
truly honorable ; but whosoever desires to be great, or chief among 
you, let him be so by his humility and the service he renders to the 
rest, in imitation of me, your Master, whose greatness consists in 
this, that I am become the servant of you all. Adding, as they had 
continued with him in this temptation, he would bestow upon them 
such a kingdom as his Father had appointed for him. 

At the same time, to check their ambition, and lead them to form 
a just notion of his kingdom, he told them that he was soon to leave » 
them, and that whither he was going they could not at that time fol- 
low him ; for which reason, instead of contending with one another, 
which of them should be the greatest, they would do well to be united 
among themselves in the happy bond of love. For, by loving one 
another sincerely and fervently, they would prove themselves his dis- 
ciples, to the conviction of mankind, who could not be ignorant that 
love was a distinguishing part of his character. 

This is termed a new commandment, not because mutual love had 
never been enjoineel to mankind before, but because it was a precept 
of peculiar excellency ; for the word translated new, in the Hebrew 
language, denotes excellency and truth ; he also called this a new 
commandment, because they were to exercise it under a new relation, 
according to a new measure, and from new motives. They were to 
love one another in the relation of his disciples, and in that degree of 
love which he had shown to them ; for they were to lay down their 
lives for the brethren. 

This excellent doctrine, however, did not make such an impres- 
sion on Peter as the words which Jesus had spoken concerning a 
place whither his disciples could not come. He therefore replied, 
by asking where he was going ; to which Jesus answered, " Whither 
I go thou canst not follow me now, but shall follow me afterward." 
Further, in order to make his disciples humble, watchful, and 
kindly affectionate one towards another, he assured them that 



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329 



Satan was seeking to ruin them all by his temptations. " And 
the Lord said, Simon, Simon, Behold Satan hath desired to have 
you, that lie might sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for the*, 
that thy faith fail not; and when thou art converted, strengthen thy 
brethren." 

Peter was greatly offended that his Master should have singled him 
out as the weakest ; for so he interpreted his praying for him particu- 
larly; and supposing that he mentioned Satan's seeking to sift him, 
as the thing which would hinder him from folio whit; his Master, re- 
plied, " Why cannot I follow thee now? Is there any road more 
terrible than the dark valley of the shadow of death ? Yet through 
these black and gloomy shades I am willing this moment to accom- 
pany thee." Jesus, knowing his weak, though sincere, resolution, 
answered, "Art thou so very confident of thine own strength ? I tell 
thee, that this very night, before the cock crows, thou wilt thrice deny 
me to be thy Master." 

Our blessed Saviour having finished what he had to say to Peter 
in particular, turned himself to his other disciples, and put them in 
mind that when they were first sent out he directed them to rely 
wholly upon the Almighty for assistance. " When I sent you for- 
merly," said he " to preach the gospel, you may remember I ordered 
you to go without any provision, either for your sustenance or defence, 
assuring you, that though you would indeed meet with great oppo- 
sition, yet Providence would dispose some men, in all places, to be 
your friends, and to furnish you with all necessaries ; and accordingly 
you found that you wanted for nothing, but were wonderfully sup- 
ported, without any care or provision of your own, in the whole 
journey, and finished your work with success. But now the case is* 
very different ; the time of that greatest trial and distress, whereof I 
have often forewarned you, is just at hand ; and you may now make 
all the provision in your power, and arm yourselves against it as 
much as you are able. I have finished the work for which I was 
sent into the world ; and nothing now remains for me but to undergo 
those sufferings which the prophets have foretold concerning me, and 
to complete this whole dispensation of Providence, by submitting at 
last to a cruel and ignominious death." 

The disciples, thinking their great Master meant that they should 
arm themselves in a literal sense, and endeavor to oppose thj assaults 
that would shortly be made upon them by the Jews, answered, 
"Lord, here are two swords," 



330 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



But the blessed Jesus, who only intended to convey an idea of their 
approaching distress and temptations, and to arm them against the 
surprise, replied, " It is enough, you need not trouble yourseKes 
about any more weapons of this nature for your defence. Be not ter- 
rified and disconsolate," added the compassionate Jesus, " because jl 
have told you that I must undergo great sufferings, and be taken 
away from you for a time. 

"You have always been taught to believe in God, who is the Al- 
mighty Preserver and Governor of all things ; and to rely on him for 
deliverance in every affliction and distress. Learn now, in like man- 
ner, to believe in me, who have all power committed to me, as the 
preserver and head of my church ; and trust in me to accomplish fully 
all things that I have promised you. 

"If you do this, and persist steadfastly in the belief of my doctrine, 
and in obedience of my commands, nothing in this vale of misery, 
not even persecution or death itself, shall be able to hinder you from 
attaining the happiness I have proposed to you. 

"For in heaven, my Father's house, there is abundant room to re- 
ceive you : otherwise I would not have filled your minds with the 
hopes and expectation of happiness. But as there are mansions suf- 
ficient for you in another state, you may, with confidence and assur- 
ance, hope for the full accomplishment of my promises, notwithstanding 
all this present world may contrive or act against you. And ye 
ought also to bear patiently my departure from you at this time, since 
I only leave you to prepare a place, and open the portals of those 
eternal habitations where I shall be ever with you. When I have 
prepared a place for you in that eternal state, I will again return 
and take you to myself. Nor shall you ever more be separated from 
me, but continue with me to all eternity, in full participation of my 
eternal glory and happiness, in the blissful regions of the heavenly 
Canaan. You must now surely know whither I am going, and the 
way that leads to these happy seats of immortality." 

But the disciples, whose minds were not yet fully weaned from the 
expectation of a temporal power and glory, did not understand this 
discourse of their great and beloved Master. Accordingly, Thomas 
replied, " Lord, we cannot comprehend whither thou art going ; and, 
therefore, must needs be ignorant of the way." To which our blessed 
Jesus answered, " I myself, as I have often told you, am the true and 
only way to life ; nor can any man go thither by any other way. If 
ye say ye do not know the Father, I tell you, that no man who know- 



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331 



eth me can be ignorant of my Father, of his will, and the manner of 
pleasing him r if ye know me, ye must know that all my actions have 
been directed by the will of the Father, and for the glory of his name. 
Philip answered, Lord, show us but oiiee the Father, and we shall be 
fully satisfied. Jesus replied, Have I been so long with you, Philip, 
and yet art thou a stranger to him who sends me? I tell you, that 
to know one is to be acquainted with both. What, then, can you 
mean by desiring to see the Father, as if you could still be ignorant 
of him, after being so long acquainted with me? Be assured, Philip, 
that whatsoever I speak is the declaration of his will, and whatsoever 
I do is the operation of his power. And if ye refuse to believe my 
own affirmation, yet, at least, let my works convince you; for they 
carry in them undeniable evidences of a divine power. ' He that be- 
lieveth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater 
works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father/ John 
xiv. 12. Surely, then, you have matter sufficient to comfort and sup- 
port your spirits under the thoughts of my departure from you. Ye 
have abundant reason to believe that I. have power to perform all the 
promises I have made you ; and the design of my departure actually 
to perform them. When I am returned to my Father, ye shall soon 
receive sufficient pledges of my care and remembrance of you. You 
shall be endued with power not only to perform the same works ye 
have seen me do, as healing diseases, giving sight to the blind, 
casting out devils, and the like, for the conviction of the Jews, but 
even to do greater things than these; to speak with all kinds of 
tongues, and to propagate my religion among the Gentiles, even 
through all the nations of the earth. And whatsoever ye shall ask of 
my Father in my name, as being my disciples, and in order to pro- 
mote the work of the gospel, shall certainly be granted you. That 
God may be greatly glorified, by the extraordinary success and 
spreading of the religion of his Son, I say, that whatsoever ye shall 
ask I will take care, after my return to the Father, that it shall be 
granted you. Only ye must remember, as the necessary condition 
upon which all depends, that ye be careful above all things to con- 
tinue steadfast and immovable in your obedience to my commands : 
this is the only true mark you can give of the sincerity of your love 
towards me ; it is more than your grieving at my departure, or any 
other external indication of zeal whatsoever. The Father, I say, 
shall send you another advocate and comforter, even the Holy Spirit, 
the author and teacher of truth, who shall guide and direct, assist and 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



comfort you in all cases. This Spirit, the sensual and corrupt worlci 
cannot receive, having no knowledge of the divine truths, nor dispo- 
sition to be governed by them. But ye know them, and are disposed 
to entertain them. The spirit of the Father is already within you, 
by his secret and invisible efficacy ; and shall hereafter appear in you 
openly, by great and visible manifestations. 

" Thus, though I must depart from you, yet I do by no means 
leave you comfortless. I leave you with a promise of the Holy 
Spirit; and I leave you in expectation also of my own return. For 
though after a very little while I shall appear no more to the world, 
yet to you I will appear again, for I shall live again, and ye also shall 
live with me. When, therefore, I have conquered and triumphed 
over death, ye shall understand more fully, and it shall appear more 
visible by great and manifest effects, that I act in all things agreeably 
to my Father's will, and am perfectly invested with his power; and 
that ye in like manner have my power and commission communicated 
to you; so that there is a perfect unity and communion between us. 
Only ye must remember that the one necessary condition on which 
all depends, is, that ye continue steadfast and immovable in your faith 
in me, and in your obedience to my commands. He, and he only, 
who embraces my doctrine, and obeys and practices it, shall be judged to 
be sincere in his love towards me. And he who loves me in that manner 
shall be loved by my Father, and I myself will also love him, and 
manifest myself to him." 

Here Judas Thaddeus interrupted his Master, saying, " Lord, how 
wilt thou choose to manifest thyself to us, a few particular persons, 
and not to the generality of the world ?" 

Jesus replied, " I have already told you the reason for my acting 
in this manner, because the generality of the world are not disposed to 
obey my commandments, the only way of maintaining communion 
with me. But ye are disposed to embrace my doctrine, and to obey 
it, and therefore I manifest myself to you. And whoever else will so 
love me as to keep my commandments, him also will I and my Father 
love, and will maintain communion with him, and all spiritual bless- 
ings shall be poured down upon him, and he shall be made a partaker 
of happiness and eternal life. 

" On the contrary, whoever loves me not, that is, obeys not my com- 
mandments, shall have no intercourse or communion with me. 
Neither will my Father love or honor him, or make any manifesta- 
tions of myself to him ; for as my commandments are not my own, but 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



333 



the Father's commandments, therefore, whoever dishonors me, my 
Father will look upon him as dishonoring himself. 

" These things have I briefly spoken to you now, according to the 
shortness of the time I am to continue with you, and to comfort you 
for the present against my departure. But when the Comforter, whom 
I promised you, is come, even the Holy Spirit, whom my Father shall 
send you on my account, he shall instruct you more fully, recalling to 
your remembrance what you have forgotten, explaining what is yet 
obscure, and supplying what is further necessary to be taught you, and 
to be understood by you* 

" In the meantime I take my leave of you, and my blessing I leave 
with you; not formally, and after the common fashion of the world, 
but affectionately and sincerely; retaining a careful remembrance of 
you, and with an earnest desire and intention of returning again 
speedily to you. Wherefore, be not overmuch grieved for me and my 
departure, nor fearful of what may then befall yourselves. I go away 
from you, but it is with an intention, as I have already told you, to 
return to you again. If you loved me with a wise and understanding 
affection, ye would rejoice, instead of grieving at my present departure ; 
because I am going to my Father, the supreme Author of all glory 
and happiness. 

" These things I have now told you before they come to pass, that 
when ye see them happen, your faith in me, and your expectation of 
the performance of all my promises, may be confirmed and strength- 
ened. The time will not allow me to say much - more to you at 
present; my end draweth near. The ruler of this world, the prince 
of the power of darkness, is at this instant employing all his wicked 
instruments to apprehend and destroy me. Not that either the power 
of the devil or the malice of man can at all prevail over me; but be- 
cause the time of my suffering, according to the appointment of Divine 
wisdom, is arrived, and that I may demonstrate to the world my love 
and obedience to my Father ! I willingly submit myself to be put to 
death by the hands of sinful and cruel men. Rise up, let us be going, 
that I may enter on my sufferings." 

Having thus spoken, they finished the passover with singing a 
hymn, and went out to the Mount of Olives. 

On their arrival at the place which was to be the scene of his suf- 
ferings, he desired them to fortify themselves by prayer, and fore- 
warned them of the terrible effects his sufferings would have upon 
them : they would make them all stumble that very night, agreeably 



S34 



THE LIFE OF C II II 1ST. 



to the prophecy of Zechariah. "I will smite the shepherd, and the 

sheep of the flock shall be scattered a broad. " 

To strengthen their faith, therefore, lie not only mentioned his own 

resurrection, but told them they should see him in Galilee after he was 

risen from the dead. On our blessed Saviour's mentioning the offence 

that his disciples would take at his suffering, Peter recollected what 

had been said to him in particular, before they left the house. Grieved, 

therefore, afresh, to find his Master entertain such thoughts of him, 

and being now armed with a sword, the vehemence of his temper 

urged him to boast a second time of his courageous and close attach- 
es o 

ment to his Master. "Though all men/' said he, " should be offended 
because of thee, yet I will never be offended." But Jesus, knowing 
that human confidence and security were weak and frail, thought 
proper to forewarn him again of his danger, and told him that the 
cock should not crow before he had denied him. Peter, however, still 
continued to repeat his confidence: "I will die with thee, but never 
deny thee." The disciples all joined with Peter in professing their 
fixed resolution of suffering death rather than they would deny their 
Master ; but the event fully confirmed the prediction of our Saviour. 
From whence we may learn how ignorant men are of their own 
hearts, and that the strongest resolutions in their own strength avail 
nothing. 

The compassionate Redeemer of mankind, not willing to lose one 
single moment of the short time of his ministry that yet remained, 
continued to instruct his disciples in the great truths he came into the 
world to explain ; and from the vines, which were growing round him 
on the Mount of Olives, he began his excellent discourse with the 
parable of the vine, to the following import. " Hitherto," said the 
blessed Jesus, " the Jewish church and nation have been the peculiar 
care of Providence ; as a choice and goodly vine, likely to bring forth 
much fruit, is the special care of the husbandman. But from hence- 
forth, my church, my disciples, and the professors of my religion, of 
what country or nation soever they be, shall become the people of 
God, and the peculiar care of Divine Providence. 

" I will be to them as the root and stock of a vine, of which they are 
the branches, and my Father the husbandman and vine-dresser. As 
in the management of a choice vine, the skilful vine-dresser cuts off 
all barren and superfluous branches, that they may not burden, nor 
exhaust the tree, and prunes and dresses the fruitful branches, that 
they may grow continually, and so bear more fruit; thus in the gov- 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



335 



ernment of my church, all useless, wicked, and incorrigible members, 
my Father, sooner or later, by his judgments, cuts off and destroys; 
hut those who are sincerely pious and good, he, by the various and 
merciful dispensations of his providence towards them, tries, purifies, 
aad amends, that they may daily improve, and be more abundant in 
all good works. 

" Now ye, my apostles, are such members as these, being purified in 
heart and mind, and prepared for every good work, by your lively 
faith in me and sincere resolutions to obey my commands. Continue 
steadfastly in this state, and then you may be sure of deriving all 
spiritual blessings from me, as the branches receive sap and nourish- 
ment from the vine. But as a branch, without continuing in the 
vine, cannot bear any fruit, but presently dries up and perishes, so ye, 
unless ye continue steadfast in your communion with me, by a lively 
faith and sincere obedience, so as to receive grace and spiritual bles- 
sings, can never bring forth any good fruit of true holiness and right- 
eousness, but will fall into vanity, superstition, and wickedness, and 
at last utterly perish. I am, as it were, I say, the root and stock of 
the vine, whereof ye are the branches. He that continues to adhere 
tc me, by a constant faith in me, shall bring forth much fruit unto 
everlasting life ; even as a branch which continues to grow in a vine, 
and receives sap and nourishment from it. But he that does not con- 
tinue his relation to me in this manner, becomes a false and useless 
professor, and shall be cast out from me, and perish for ever : even as 
a fruitless branch is cut off from the vine, and left to wither and dry, 
and is at last burned in the fire. 

"If you continue in me, by believing my words, and holding fast 
what ye believe ; and obeying and practising it accordingly, no power 
or malice, either of men or of devils, shall be able to hurt you or op- 
pose your doctrines. For though I be absent from you in body, yet 
I will hear your prayers, and my Father himself also will hear you ; 
and whatsoever ye shall ask, for the glory of the Almighty and the 
propagation of my true religion in the world, shall certainly be gran- 
ted you. 

" But above all things, carefully remember to demonstrate your 
continuance in me, by abounding in all good works of holiness, right- 
eousness, and charity. This is the honor which my Father desires 
and expects from you ; even as it is the glory and desire of a vine- 
dresser that his vine should bring forth much fruit. And this is the 
konor that I myself expect from you ; that you should prove your- 



S36 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



selves to be really and indeed my disciples, by imitating my example 
and obeying my commands. This ye are bound to do, not only in 
duty, but in gratitude also ; for as my Father hath loved me, so have 
I also loved you ; and ye in like manner ought to love me again, that 
you may continue to be loved by me. But the way to express your 
love towards me, and to continue to be loved by me, is to keep my 
commandments : even as I, by keeping my Father's commandments, 
have expressed my love towards him, and continue to be loved by him. 

"Th2se things have I spoken to you before my departure, that the 
comfort ye have taken in my presence may be continued in my ab- 
sence, and even increased until the coming of the Holy Spirit, as it 
will be upon this condition, which I have so often repeated to you, 
that you keep my commandments. And the principal of these com- 
mandments is, that ye love one another; not after the common fashion 
of the world, but in such a manner as I have loved you. 

" Nor can you be ignorant what sort of love that is, when I tell you 
that I am now going to lay down my life for you. This is the high- 
est instance in which it is possible for a man to express his love 
towards his greatest friends and benefactors ; but this I am now going 
to do for you and for all mankind. I do not consider you as my 
benefactors, but as my friends, upon this easy condition only, that ye 
keep my commandments. I might, indeed, justly call you servants, 
considering the infinite distance between me and you, and the obliga- 
tion ye have to obey my commandments ; but I have not treated you 
as servants, who are not admitted into their master's counsels, but as 
friends, revealing to you the wdiole will of my Father, with all free- 
dom, and plainness. I have, I say, behaved myself to you as to 
the nearest friends. Not that you first obliged me, or did any acts of 
kindness for me, but I have freely, and of my own good pleasure, 
chosen you to be my apostles, and the preachers of my gospel, that 
you may go and declare the will of God to the world, and bring forth 
much and lasting fruit in the conversion of men to the knowledge of 
the truth, and to the profession and practice of true religion. In the 
performance of this work, whatsoever ye shall ask of my Father in 
my name, in order to enable you to perform it effectually and with 
full success, shall certainly be granted you. 

" Now all these things which I have spoken unto you concerning 
the greatness of my love towards you, in choosing you to be my apos- 
tles, in revealing unto you the whole will of my Father, and in laying 
down my life for you ; I have urged and inculcated upon you this 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



33? 



reason chiefly, as I at first told you, that ye may learn after my exam- 
ple to love one another. The world, indeed, you must expect, will 
hate and persecute you upon my account. But this you ought not to 
be surprised or terrified at, knowing that it is no worse treatment than 
I myself have met with before you. Be not therefore surprised, w r hen 
ye meet with opposition, nor think to find better treatment in the 
world than I myself have done. Remember what I have already told 
you, that the disciple is not above his Masrer ; nor is he that is sent 
greater than he that sent him. If men had generally and readily 
embraced my doctrine, you might, indeed, have had some reason to ex- 
pect that they would willingly have received yours also. 

" But since I myself have suffered great indignities and persecutions 
from wicked and perverse, from obstinate and incorrigible men, only 
for opposing their vices, it is highly reasonable that you should ex- 
pect to undergo the like treatment upon the like account. In all 
which sufferings you will moreover have this further comfortable 
consideration to support you, that the justice of your ow r n cause, and 
the injustice of your persecutors, will by that means most evidently 
appear ; seeing ye are persecuted only for professing and preaching in 
my name the doctrine of true religion ; and they persecute you only 
because they know not God, and out of mere malice will not bear to 
be instructed in his commands. Indeed, had not I appeared to the 
world with all possible demonstrations of authority and truth, teach- 
ing them a most holy and undeniable doctrine, sufficient to reform, 
their manners and amend their lives, and moreover demonstrating 
my divine commission by such proofs as ought to satisfy and convince 
the most doubting and suspicious minds, they might have had some 
plea and excuse of ignorance for their unbelief. 

" But now, since all reasonable evidence has been offered them, and 
proper methods used for their conversion and salvation, and yet they 
wilfully and obstinately reject these means of grace, it is plain they 
have no excuse for their sin, but they oppose and persecute you only 
because they will not forsake their worldly lusts, and out of mere 
maLce will not bear to be instructed in the commands of the Almighty. 
So that they who oppose and persecute you, as they have before per- 
secuted me, show plainly that they are haters of God and of his most 
^oly commandments. Which is, as I have already told you, a plain 
evidence of the justice of your own cause, and of the injustice of your 
persecutors. 

" If I had not, I say, done such works among them as no man ever 
22 



338 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



did, they might indeed have had some appearance of excuse for their 
sin. But now, having seen abundant proofs of my authority, and 
undeniable evidence of the truth of my doctrine, and yet wilfully and 
obstinately persisting in opposing it, because inconsistent with their 
lusts ; it is plain that their dishonoring me is a dishonor done to God 
himself, and a direct contempt of his commands : so that they are 
utterly inexcusable. But it is no wonder, when men have given 
themselves wholly up to be governed by worldly affections, passions, 
and vices, they should act contrary t^ all the reason and evidence in 
the world, for this is but the natural consequence of obstinate and 
habitual wickedness ; and hereby is only fulfilled in me what holy 
David long since prophetically complained of, that they hated him 
without a cause. But notwithstanding all the opposition that wicked 
and incorrigible men will make against my doctrine, there will not 
be wanting powerful promoters of it, who shall effectually overcome 
all opposition. For the Comforter, who I said I will send you from 
heaven, even that Spirit of Truth which cometh forth and is sent 
from the Father shall, when he cometh, with wonderful efficacy bear 
testimony to the truth of my doctrine, and cause it to be spread 
through the world with incredible success. Nay, and ye yourselves 
also, though now so weak, fearful, and doubting, shall then very 
powerfully bear testimony to the truth of all the things whereof ye, 
having been all along present with me, have been eye witnesses from 
the beginning. 

" Thus have I warned you beforehand, of the opposition and perse- 
cution ye must expect to meet with in the world, that when it cometh 
ye may not be surprised and terrified, so as to be discouraged thereby 
from persisting in the performance of your duty. Ye must expect 
particularly that the chief priests and rulers of the Jews, men of 
great hypocrisy and superstition, zealous for their ceremonies and 
ritual traditions, but careless to know and obey the will of the Al- 
mighty in matters of great and eternal obligation, and invincibly 
prejudiced against the spiritual holiness and purity of my doctrine ; 
these, I say, you must expect, will excommunicate you as apostates, 
and cast you out of all their societies, as the vilest of malefactors. 
Nay, to such an absurd height of malice will their superstition carry 
them, that they will even fancy they promote the service of God, 
and the cause of religion, when they most barbarously murder and 
destroy you. 

" But I have warned you of all this beforehand, that ye may prepare 



THE LIFE OF CHRIS T. 



339 



and fortify yourselves against it ; and that, when it corneth to pass, 
ye may remember I foretold it to you, and your faith in me may 
thereby be strengthened. It was needless to acquaint you with these 
scenes of suffering while I was with you. But now, being about to 
leave you, I think it necessary to acquaint you what things are likely 
to come upon you after my departure, and also at the same time what 
comfort you may expect to support you under them. 

" Now I must mention the melancholy part, namely, that I am 
going from you, and that great temptations will befall you in my 
absence: this, indeed, ye readily apprehend, and suffer your hearts to 
be overwhelmed with grief at the thoughts of it. But the comfort- 
able part of my discourse, namely, that my departure is only in order 
to return to him that sent me, and that I will soon after send you the 
Holy Spirit ; and the other advantages that will thence result to you, 
are neither considered, nor are you solicitous about them. 

" Nevertheless, if ye will listen, I will plainly tell you the truth. 
Ye are so far from having reason to be dejected at the thought of my 
departure, that, on the contrary, it is really profitable and expedient 
for you that I should now depart; for such is the order and dispen- 
sation of Providence towards you, and the appointment of my 
Father's eternal and all-wise counsel, that before I go and take pos- 
session of my kingdom, the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, 
cannot be sent unto you ; but when I am departed from you, and 
have all power in heaven and earth committed unto me, then f 
will send him unto you. And when he cometh, he shall abundantly 
support and comfort you under all your troubles; shall power- 
fully plead your cause against your adversaries; and shall, with 
wonderful efficacy, cause the doctrines of the gospel to spread and 
prevail in the world against all opposition. 

" He shall particularly, and in a most extraordinary and convincing 
manner, make the world sensible of the greatness and heinousness of 
a sin of which they were not aware; of the righteousness and justice 
of a dispensation they did not understand, and of the execution of a 
most remarkable judgment they did not expect. 

" First — By wonderfully attesting and confirming the truth of my 
doctrine, by the gift of tongues, and other wonderful signs, he shall 
convince the world of the greatness and heinousness of their sins, in 
disbelieving and rejecting me. 

w Secondly — By demonstrating that my departure out of the world 
was not perishing and dying, but only a returning to my Father, in 



540 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



order to be invested with all power, both in heaven and earth, lie 
shall convince the world of the righteousness and justice of my cause, 
and of the excellency of that dispensation which I preach and declare 
to mankind. 

" Lastly, by mightily destroying the power of the devil and the 
dominion of sin, and propagating the doctrine of a true religion in 
the world with wonderful efficacy and success, lie shall convince men 
of my power and authority to execute judgment upon mine enemies, 
for the establishment of my kingdom upon the earth. 

''There are yet many other things hereafter to be done in relation 
to the settling and establishing of my church, which, if it were proper, 
I would now acquaint you with, but ye art not yet prepared to un- 
derstand and receive them. Howbeit, when the Spirit of Truth, 
whom I promised you, is come, he shall enlarge your understandings, 
remove your prejudices, and instruct you in all necessary and divine 
truths, to enable you to go through that great work which I have 
begun in person, and which I will carry on by your ministry; for 
the Spirit is not to begin any new work, or to found any new doctrine 
of himself; but as I have taught and will teach you only in my Father's 
name, so the Spirit shall instruct you only in mine and my Father's 
will, and in things necessary to promote and carry on the same design. 

''Everything that he does shall be only in order to manifest my 
glory, and establish my religion in the world ; even as everything that 
I have done has been only to manifest my Father's glory, and reveal 
his will to mankind. For as all that I have taught is only what I 
received from my Father, so all that the Spirit shall teach you is only 
what he receives from me. Whatsoever I say the Spirit shall teach 
you is only what he receives from me ; for receiving from my Father 
I call receiving from me, and teaching his will is teaching mine ; 
seeing all things that the Father hath are common to me, and all 
power and dominion by him committed to me. 

" And now be careful to remember what matter for comfort I have 
given you, and support yourselves with it under the approaching dis- 
tress. It is now, indeed, but a very little while before I shall be taken 
away from you; nevertheless, let not this cause you to despair; for, 
after I am departed, it will be also a little while before I appear to 
you again : forasmuch as my being taken away from you is not per- 
ishing, but only returning to my Father." 

At these last words of Jesus the disciples were greatly disturbed 
and troubled, not understanding his true meaning, that in a very 



THE LIFE OF CHRIS T 



341 



short time he should be taken from them by death j and that, after 
having overcome death by a glorious resurrection, he would appear 
to them again before his ascension into heaven. Not understanding 
this, I say, they inquired one of another, " What can he mean by 
telling us, that in a very little time he shall be taken out of our sight; 
and that in a very little time more Ave shall see him again, and this 
because he goetli to the Father? We cannot understand the meaning 
of all this." 

Jesus observing their perplexity, and knowing that they were de- 
sirous of asking him, replied, " Why are ye thus disturbed and per- 
plexed about what I told you ? Is it a thing so very hard to be 
understood, that I said, within a very little time I should be taken 
away from you, and that within a very little time more I should ap- 
pear to you again? Verily, verily, I tell you I must very soon depart 
out of this world ; then the world, who are your enemies, will rejoice 
and triumph over you, as if they had destroyed me, and wholly sup- 
pressed you ; ye for your parts will be overwhelmed with grief and 
sorrow. 

"But within a short time I will return to you again ; and then your- 
sorrow shall be turned into exceeding great joy. Even as a woman, 
when she is in labor hath great pain and sorrow for the present, but 
as soon as she is delivered, forgets all her sufferings, and rejoices 
greatly at the birth of her son ; so ye, while ye are under the immedi- 
ate apprehension of my departure from you, and during that time of 
distress and temptation, which shall befall you in my absence, will be^ 
full of sorrow and anxiety of mind; but when I return to you again,., 
then ye shall rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, and no> 
power or malice of man shall ever be able to take from you any more* 
the cause or continuance of it. 

"But though I shall return to you again, and your hearts will' 
thereupon be filled with inexpressible joy, and which shall never be< 
taken from you any more ; yet there will be no necessity that I should 
then continue long with you in person, to instruct you upon every 
occasion, as I have now done with my own mouth. For, besides 
that, the Holy Spirit will be sent to instruct you in all things neces- 
sary, my Father himself also will hear your petitions, and be ready 
to grant you whatsoever ye shall desire of him in my name, and as, 
being my disciples. 

" Hitherto ye have asked nothing of God in my name ; but from 
henceforth put your petitions in ray name ; and whatsoever ye shall 



342 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



so ask for the glory of God and in order to enable you to go through 
the work of your ministry successfully, shall certainly be granted 
you; that your joy, which will begin at my appearing to you again 
after my death, may be completed by the wonderful success and effi- 
cacy of your own ministry. 

" These things I have told you at present imperfectly and obscurely, 
according as your capacities are able to bear them. But the time is 
corning, when I will speak to you with more openness, freedom, and, 
plainness, the whole will of my Father concerning the nature and es- 
tablishment of my kingdom, and what things and in what manner ye 
ought to pray unto him for. At that time ye shall with firm assur- 
ance pray to my Father in my name for what ye want. 

" And I need not tell you, that I will intercede with the Father on 
your behalf; for besides the love he has bore for me, and the power 
and authority my prayers have with him, he has, moreover, of himself 
a great love for you, and a ready disposition to grant your prayers, 
because ye are become grateful and acceptable to him by your love 
towards me, which ye have shown in embracing willingly that holy 
doctrine which I have revealed to you from him. 

" To conclude — the sum of what I have told you is briefly and plainly 
this : I came down from heaven, from God my Father, and have lived 
upon earth in the state of frail and mortal man, that I might reveal 
to mankind the will of my heavenly Father, and the way to attain 
eternal life and happiness; and now, having finished this great work, 
I am about to leave this world, and return again to my Father, from 
whence I at first came." 

These last words of Jesus being somewhat more plain and expres- 
sive than any he had before spoken, the disciples now clearly perceived 
that the departure he had so often mentioned ;\vas no other than his 
actual going out of this world, they replied, " Now, Lord, you speak 
plainly, and without any figure ; so that we apprehend fully what you 
mean. And now that our curiosity is satisfied, you have likewise 
greatly confirmed our faith ; having given us a certain token whereby 
we are assured that you know all things, even the hearts and secret 
thoughts of men ; since you have answered us a question which gave 
us great perplexity, and were desirous to ask your opinion, but were 
afraid; but now we are convinced that you are endued with a truly 
divine power, and did, indeed, come forth from God." To which 
Jesus answered, " And do you now, at length, believe in me ? Are ye 
resolved to continue steadfast in this faith ? Do you think yourselves 



THE LIFE OF CHRIS T. 



343 



able to persevere immovably in the profession of it ? Be not confi- 
dent of your own strength ; but pray that ye may be delivered from 
temptation in the time of distress, such as will come upon you much 
sooner than ye expect. For I tell you, that ye will all of you, within 
a few hours, utterly forsake me and fly, in hopes to secure yourselves, 
leaving me alone. And yet I should not stay alone, since my Father 
is with me, who is more than alb I have, therefore, acquainted you 
with these things beforehand, that your minds may be furnished with 
sufficient matter of comfort, and strength to bear up under all temp- 
tations, from the consideration of my having foretold both what dis- 
tress will befall you, and how ye shall terminate your victory over all 
your enemies. You must, indeed, expect to meet with much affliction, 
but let not this discourage you. I have subdued the world : follow 
my example, and partake of my reward." 

Having thus finished his discourse, "Jesus lifted up his eyes to 
heaven, and prayed " with great fervency to his Father: (the prayer 
itself is recorded in John xvii. ;) the substance and import of it is as 
follows : " O Almighty Father, now the time of my suffering, for 
which I was sent into the world, is arrived, I entreat thee to support 
me under it, and make me triumph over death by a glorious resurrec- 
tion and ascension into heaven ; that by this means the glory may re- 
dound to thee, and cause thy will to be believed and obeyed through 
all the world to the salvation of mankind, according to the full intent 
of that office and power with which thou didst originally invest me. 
In order to the bringing about this great design of salvation, I have 
declared thy will to mankind. I have published thy precepts and 
discharged the great mission intrusted to me ; I have preached thy 
doctrine of repentance to salvation, and have finished the work which 
thou sentest me to do, to the glory of thy name upon earth ; and now, 
to complete the great design, do thou, O Almighty Father, likewise 
glorify me with thine own self. Support me under my sufferings. 
Let me prevail and triumph over death, by a glorious resurrection, 
and exalt me again to the same glory in heaven which I had with 
thee before the creation of the universe. I have manifested thy will 
to the disciples, the men that thou gavest me out of the world. To 
those persons thou didst in thine infinite wisdom appoint, that thy 
truth should be made known. Therefore, to them I have revealed 
the mysteries of thy kingdom, the precepts of thy gospel, and the 
doctrine of thy salvation. 

" And this doctrine they have willingly embraced, steadfastly adhered 



344 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



to, and sincerely obeyed ; as they are fully satisfied and convinced that 
what I taught them as from thee was really a divine doctrine taught 
by thine immediate appointment and command ; and that I did not 
preach any human invention or institution of men, but was really sent 
by the divine authority and commission. For these persons, there- 
- fore, I now pray, that as thou hast begun the work of their salvation 
by my preaching and revealing to them thy will while I have been 
present with them here upon earth, so also that thou wouldst preserve 
them when I am departed from this world, and complete the work of 
their redemption by my resurrection and ascension into heaven, after 
my death. I do not pray for the unbelieving, impenitent world, but 
for those who have embraced that most holy doctrine, which thou 
hast taught them through me by my preaching ; for those who have 
glorified and will glorify my name by their ministry, and who conse- 
quently are to be esteemed as thine own, in common with me. I am 
now about to leave the world in order to return to thee ; but these, 
my disciples, who continue after me, I recommend to thy divine pro- 
tection when I am gone : endue them with powers to persevere in 
preaching and practising the truth, and to deliver the same holy doc- 
trines which I have given to them, that so they may remain insepara- 
bly united to me, as I am to thee. So long as I have been with them 
in the world, I have watched over them, and kept them from falling 
away, both by example, preaching, "and continual admonition, accord- 
ing to the power and authority which thou didst commit to me ; nor 
has one of my apostles miscarried under my care, except that perfidi- 
ous traitor, who, as the scripture foretold, has ungratefully conspired 
with my enemies to destroy me, and will perish according to his 
deserts. 

" While I have continued with my disciples, I have watched over 
them and preserved them under mine own eye ; but now, as I am 
going to leave the world, I beseech thee to keep and assist them by 
thy good Spirit; and let the expectation of their continuing under thy 
special care and protection be their comfort and support in my ab- 
sence. The world, indeed, will persecute and hate them on this ac- 
count, as my doctrine is repugnant to the lusts and affections, the pas- 
sions, designs, and inclinations of worldly men, it must necessarily be 
that the vicious and incorrigible world will oppose and persecute them, 
as it has before persecuted me. I beseech thee, therefore, to tak' 
them under thy particular care, to support them against the violence 
and oppression of an evil world. I do not desire that thou shouldst 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



345 



take them out of the world, but preserve them in it, to be instruments 
of thy word, thy glory, and to be teachers of thy truth j nor suffer 
them to be either destroyed by the malice and violence, or corrupted 
by the evil customs and opinions of a perverse and wicked generation. 
They are of a temper and spirit very different from the current affec- 
tion and common dispositions of the world, according to the example 
of purity which I have set before them. Do thou preserve and in- 
crease in them that moderation and candor of mind, cause them to be 
thoroughly affected and impressed with that true doctrine so frequently 
recommended to them from my mouth, so as to express it visibly in 
their lives and practice, and to promote it zealously in their preaching, 
that they may, both by word and good example, become worthy and 
successful ministers of my gospel. For as thou hast sent me into the 
world to reveal thy will to mankind, so send I these, my apostles, to 
continue preaching the same doctrine begun by me. And the princi- 
pal design of my exemplary life, constant teaching, and now volunta- 
rily offering myself to death, is to atone for sins, and enable these my 
servants to preach my doctrines with success and efficacy for the salva- 
tion of men. Neither pray I for these, my apostles, only, but for all 
ot'iers who shall, by their preaching and practice, promote thy true 
re.igion ; and being converted from the world, may by their sincere 
endeavors, go on to reform others, convincing the world of the excel- 
lency of their religion, and consequently enforcing men to acknowl- 
edge the truth and divine authority thereof. For promoting which 
great end I have communicated to my apostles the same power and 
authority of doing mighty works, for the confirmation of their doc- 
trine, and the evidence of thy truth, as thou didst communicate to me; 
that so, I working in them, as thou hast done in me, and thus con- 
fhming with great efficacy and demonstration of the Spirit, they may 
declare the same doctrine which I published in person ; the world 
may, by this evidence, be convinced that I was really sent by thee, 
and that my disciples act by the same divine commission. 

" Holy and Almighty Father, all those whom thou hast thus given 
me, who have heartily embraced my doctrine and sincerely obeyed it, 
I desire that thou wouldst make them partakers of the same happi- 
ness with myself, and exalt them to behold the incomprehensible 
glory which I had with thee, in thy eternal love, before the found* 
tion of the world. 

" The generality of mortals, O righteous Father, have not known 
thee, nor been Avilling to embrace, and obey the revelation of thy will 



346 THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 

But I have known thy will, and have made it known to my disciples, 
men of simplicity and honesty: and they have embraced and obeyed 
it. And I will continually make it known to them more and more, 
that they may grow up and improve in faith, in holiness, and in all 
good works, so as finally to arrive, and cause others to arrive at that 
eternal happiness, which is the effect of thy infinite love towards me, 
and through me towards them." 

This pious and benevolent prayer being ended, Jesus and his disci- 
ples came down from the Mount of Olives into a field below, called 
Gethsemane,* through which the brook Kedron ran, and in it, on the 
other side of the brook, was a garden, called the garden of Gethsem- 
ane. Here he desired his disciples to sit down, till he should re- 
tire to pray, taking with him Peter, James, and John, those three 
select disciples whom lie had before chosen to be witnesses of his 
transfiguration, and now to be eye-witnesses of his passion, leaving the 
other disciples at the garden-door to watch the approach of Judas and 
his band. The sufferings he was on the point of undergoing were so 
great, that the very prospect of them excited this doleful exclamation, 
" My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto ^eath : tarry ye here 
and watch." On this great occasion he sustained those grievous sor- 
rows in his soul by which, as well as by dying on the cross, he be- 
came a sin-offering, and accomplished the redemption of mankind. 

He now withdrew from them about a stone's cast, and his human 
nature being now overburdened beyond measure, he found it neces- 
sary to retire and pray, that if it was possible, or consistent with the 
salvation o^ the world, he might be delivered from the sufferings 
which were thyn lying on him. 

* "Gethsemane, a small 'farm,' situated across the brook Kedron, probably at 
the foot of Mount Olivet, to the northwest, about one-half or three-quarters of 
ari English mile from the walls of Jerusalem. There was a 'garden/ or rather 
orchard, attached to it, to which the olive, fig, and pomegranate doubtless invited 
esort by their hospitable shade. And we know from the Evangelists Luke and 
John that our Lord ofttimes resorted thither with His disciples. According to 
iosephus the suburbs of Jerusalem abounded with gardens and pleasure grounds. 
But Gethsemane has not come down to us as a scene of mirth ; its inexhaustible 
associations are the offspring of a single event — the agony of the Son of God on 
the evening preceding His Passion. A modern garden, in which are eight venera- 
ble olive trees, and a grotto to the north, detached from it, and in closer connec- 
tion with the Church of the Sepulchre of the Virgin. Against the contemporary 
antiquity of the olive trees, it has been urged that Titus cut down all the trees 
"'ound about Jerusalem. The probability would seem to be that they were planted 
>>y Christian hands to mark the spot ; unless, like the sacred olive of the A cropolis, 
they may have reproduced themselves." — Dr. Wm. Smith. 



THE LIFE OF CHEIST. 



o47 




CHRIST "RAISES THE WIDOWS S02T. 



It was not the fear of dying on the cross which made him speak or 
pray in such a manner. To suppose this, would infinitely degrade 
his character. Make his sufferings as terrible as possible, clothe them 
with all the aggravating circumstances of distress ; yet the blessed 
Jesus, whose human nature was strengthened by being connected with 
the divine, could not but shrink at the prospect of such sufferings as 
he had to endure. He addresses his divine Father with a sigh of 
fervent wishes that the cup might, if possible, be removed from him ; 
(in the Greek, it is, " O that thou wouldst remove this cup from me ;") 
and having first kneeled and prayed lie fell prostrate on his face, ac- 
companying his address with due expressions of resignation, adding 
immediately, "Not as I will, but as thou wilt." Having prayed, he 
returned to his disciples, and finding them asleep, he said to Peter, 
" Simon, sleepest thou ? Couldst thou not watch one hour ?" Thou 
who so lately didst boast of thy courage and constancy in my service, 
canst thou so soon forget thy Master ? 

But in his great distress he never lost sight of that kind concern he 
had for his disciples. " Watch ye," he says, " and pray, lest ye enter 
into temptation." Neither was he, on those extraordinary occasions 
in the least chagrined with the offences which they had committed 
through frailty and human weakness ; on the contrary, he was always 
willing to make excuses for them, alleging in their defence, that the 
•spirit trulv was willing, but the flesh was weak. 



343 



THE LIFE OP C IIll I ST. 



It seems from these particulars that he spent some considerable 
time in his addresses ; because his disciples fell asleep in his absence, 
and he himself retired again to pray ; for the sorrows of our Lord 
continuing to increase upon him, affected him to such a degree that he 
retired a second time, and prayed to the same purpose, saying, " Oh, 
my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, 
thy will be done." After which he returned again to them, and 
found them asleep, for their eyes were heavy. 

He returned thus frequently to his disciples, that they, by reading 
1 lis distress in his countenance and gesture, might be witnesses of his 
passion, which proves that his pains were beyond description intense 
and complicated ; for he went away the third time to pray, and not- 
withstanding an angel was sent from heaven to comfort and strengthen 
him, yet they overwhelmed him, and threw him into an agony; upon 
which he still continued to pray more earnestly. 

But the sense of his sufferings still increasing, they strained his 
whole body to so violent a degree that his blood, as it were, was 
pressed through the pores of his skin, which it pervaded, together with 
his sweat, and fell down in large drops on the ground. And he 
left them and went away again. "And there appeared an angel unto 
him from heaven, strengthening him. 

"And being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat 
was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." 
Luke xxii. 43, 44. Thus did he suffer unspeakable sorrows in his 
soul, as long as the Divine Wisdom thought proper. At length he 
obtained relief, being heard on account of his perfect and entire sub- 
mission to the will of his heavenly Father. "And when he rose up 
from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for 
sorrow." Luke xxii. 45. This circumstance shows how much the 
disciples were affected with their Master's sufferings. 

The sensations of grief which they felt on seeing his unspeakable 
distress, so overpowered them that they sunk into a sleep. Our 
blessed Saviour for the last time came to his disciples, and seeing 
them still asleep, he said, "Sleep on now, and take your rest; behold, 
the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands 
of sinners. Rise, let us be going : behold, he is at hand that doth 
betray me." Matt. xxvi. 45, 46. The event will soon be over which 
causes your sorrow : I am betrayed, and ready to be delivered unto 
death. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



349 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

THE BLESSED REDEEMER IS TAKEN BY A BAND OP SOLDIERS, AT THE INFORMA- 
TION OP TIIE TRAITOR JUDAS — REALS A WOUND GIVEN TO THE HIGH PRIEST* S 
SERVANT BY SIMON PETER. 

Judas, who had often resorted to the garden of Gethseraane, with 
the disciples of our Lord, knowing the spot and the usual time of his 
Master's repairing thither, informed th« chief priests and elders that 
the proper time for apprehending Jesus was now come. They, there- 
fore, sent a band of soldiers with him, and servants carrying lanterns 
and torches to show them the way ; because, though it was always 
full moon at the passover, the sky might be dark with clouds, and 
the place whither they were going was shaded with trees. At the 
same time a deputation of their number accompanied the band, to see 
that every one did his duty. Judas having thus received a band of 
men, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, they went 
thither with lanterns, and torches, and weapons, for they were exceed- 
ingly anxious to secure and get him into their hands : and the soldiers 
having, perhaps, never seen Jesus before, found it necessary that Ju- 
das should distinguish him, and point him out to them by some par- 
ticular sign. 

The treacherous Judas went before the band at a small distance, to 
prepare them for the readier execution of their office, by kissing his 
Master, which was the token agreed upon, that they might not mis- 
take him, and seize a wrong parson. " And he that was called Ju- 
das, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus 
to kiss him." Luke xx. 47. Stuns? with remorse at the horrid en£?age- 
ment into which he had entered, and not being now able to retract 
from the execution of it, he determined to make use of art in his vile 
proceedings, and weakly imagined he could deceive him whom he was 
about to betray, on a supposition that when he should give the kiss, 
it might be considered by his Master as a singular mark of his affec- 
tion. When, therefore, they approached near the spot, Judas (who 
was at th« head of the band) suddenly ran forward, and coming up to 
Jesus, said, " Hail, Master! and kissed him. And Jesus said unto 
him, Friend, wherefore art thou come ? Betrayest thou the Son of 



350 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



man with a kiss ?" Before, however, Judas could make any reply, 
the band (who had fixed their eyes on the person he had kissed,) ar- 
rived immediately, and surrounded Jesus. 

The artifice and wicked designs of the base and perfidious Judas, are 
here manifestly displayed. In order to conceal his villany from his 
Master and his disciples, he "walked hastily, and without waiting for 
the band, went up directly and saluted him, wishing perhaps to have 
that considered as a token of apprizing him of his danger. 

But Jesus did not fail to convince him that he knew the meaning 
and intent of his salutation, saying, " Betrayest thou the Son of man 
with a kiss ?" Judas certainly concealed his treachery so well that 
Peter did not suspect him, as it is probable he would have struck at 
him rather than at Malchus, the high priest's servant. 

The appointed time of our Lord's sufferings being now come, he did 
not, as formerly, avoid his enemies ; but, on the contrary, on their 
telling him they sought Jesus of Nazareth, he replied, "I am he;" 
thereby intimating to them that he was willing to put himself into 
their hands. 

At the same time, to show them that they could not apprehend him 
without his own consent, he, in an extraordinary manner, exerted his 
divine power : he made the whole band fall back, and threw them to 
the ground. "Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that should come 
upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye ? They 
answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. 
And Judas also who betrayed him stood with them. As soon then as 
he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the 
ground." But the soldiers and the Jews, imagining, perhaps, that 
they had been thrown down by some demon or evil spirit, with whom 
the Jews said he was in confederacy, advanced towards him a second 
time: "Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? and they said, 
Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he," 
expressing again his willingness to fall into their hands. "If, there- 
fore, ye seek me, let these go their way." If your business be with 
me alone, suffer my disciples to pass ; for the party had surrounded 
them also. 

He seems to have made this request to the soldiers, that the saying 
might be fulfilled which he spake, " Of them which thou gavest me 
have I lost none." For as he always proportioned the trials of his 
people to their strength ; so here he took care that the disciples should 
escape the storm which none but himself could sustain. 



THE LIFE OP CHRIST. 



351 



At length, one of the soldiers, more daring than the rest, rudely 
caught Jesus, and bound him : upon which Peter drew his sword, and 
smote off the ear of the high priest's servant, who probably was show- 
ing greater forwardness than the rest in this business. " Then Simon 
Peter, having a sword, drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, 
and cut off his right ear : the servant's, name was Malchus." John 
xviii. 10, etc. The enraged disciple was on the point of singly attack- 
ing the whole band, when Jesus ordered him to sheathe the sword ; 
telling him, that his unseasonable and imprudent defence might prove 
the occasion of his destruction. "Then said Jesus unto him, Put up 
again thy sword into his place : for all they that take the sword shall 
perish with the sword." Matt. xxvi. 52. He told him likewise, 
that it implied both a distrust of God, who can always employ a 
variety of means for the safety of his people, and also his ignorance in 
the scriptures. " Thinkest thou," said he, " that I cannot now pray 
to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve 
legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, 
that thus it must be?" Matt. xxvi. 53, 54. 

The word legion was a Roman military term, being a name which 
they gave to a body of five or six thousand men ; wherefore, in regard 
that the band which now surrounded them was a Roman cohort, our 
Lord might make use of this term by way of contrast, to show what 
an inconsiderable thing a cohort was, in comparison of the force lie 
could summon to his assistance; more than twelve legions, not of sol- 
diers, but of angels. 

He yet was tenderly inclined to prevent any bad consequences 
which might have followed from Peter's rashness, by healing the ser- 
vant, and adding, in his rebuke to him, a declaration of his willing- 
ness to suffer. " The cup which my Father has given me, shall I not 
drink it?" John xviii. 11. 

The circumstance of his healing the ear of Malchus by touching it, 
evidently implies that no wound or distemper was incurable in the 
hand of Jesus ; neither was any injury so great that he could not for- 
give. It seems somewhat surprising that this evident miracle did not 
make an impression upon the chief priests, especially as our Lord put 
them in mind, at the same time, of his other miracles; for having 
first said, " Suffer ye thus far ; he touched his ear, and healed him ; " 
adding, "Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves? 
When I was daily with you in the temple ye stretched forth no hands 
against me ; but this is your hour, and the power of darkness." Luke 



£52 



T II E LIFE OF CHRIS T. 



xxii. 51-53. The priests had kept at a distance for some time, but 
drew near when they understood that Jesus was in their power ; for 
they were proof against all conviction, being obstinately bent on put- 
ting him to death. And the disciples, when they saw their Master in 
the hands of his enemies, forsook him and fled, according to his pre- 
diction ; notwithstanding they might have followed him without any 
danger, as the priests had no design against them. " Then all the 
disciples forsook him, and fled. Then the band and the captain and 
officers took Jesus, and bound him." But it was not the cord which 
held him, his infinite love was by far the stronger bond. He could 
have broken those weak ties, and exerted his divinity in a more won- 
derful manner ; he could have stricken them all dead, with as much 
ease as he had before thrown them on the ground ; but he patiently 
submitted to this, as to every other indignity which they chose to offer 
him, so meek was he under the greatest injuries. 

Having thus secured him they led him away. "And there fol- 
lowed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his 
naked body ; and the young man laid hold on him : and he left the 
linen cloth, and fled from them naked." This, perhaps, was the pro- 
prietor of the garden ; who, being awakened with the noise, came out 
with the linen cloth, in which he had been lying, cast round his naked 
body; and having a respect for Jesus, followed him, forgetting the 
dress he was in. 

They first led Jesus to Annas, father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was 
high priest that year. Annas having himself discharged the office of 
high priest, was consequently a person of distinguished character, 
which, together with his relation to the high priest, made him worthy 
of the respect they now paid him. 

But he refused singly to meddle in the affair ; they therefore carried 
Jesus to Caiaphas himself, at whose palace the chief priests, elders, 
and scribes were assembled ; having staid there all night to see the 
issue of their stratagem. This Caiaphas was he that advised the coun- 
cil to put Jesus to death, even admitting he was innocent, for the 
safety of the whole Jewish nation. He seems to have enjoyed the 
sacerdotal dignity during the whole course of Pilate's government in 
Judea ; for he was advanced by Valerius Gracchus, Pilate's predeces- 
sor, and was divested of it by Vitellius, governor of Syria, after he 
had deposed Pilate from his procuratorship. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



353 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

FULFILMENT OF -OUR LORD'S PREDICTION CONCERNING PETER. 

The apprehending of their dear Master could not but strike his 
disciples with horror and amazement : though he had forewarned them 
of that event, such was their consternation that they fled different 
ways ; some of them, however, recovering out of the panic that had 
seized them, followed the band at a distance to see what the issue 
would be. Of this number was Peter, and another disciple, whom 
John has mentioned without giving his name, and who therefore is 
supposed to have been John himself. This disciple being acquainted 
at the high priest's, got admittance for himself first, and soon after for 
Peter, who had come with him. " And Simon Peter followed Jesus, 
and so did another disciple: that disciple was known to the high 
priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest. But 
Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, 
which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept 
the door, and brought in Peter. And when they had kindled a fire 
in the midst of the hall, and were sat down together, Peter sat down 
among them." The maid servant who kept the door concluding 
Peter to be a disciple also, followed him after to the fire > and looking 
earnestly at him, charged him with the supposed crime. "Then 
saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one 
of this man's disciples ?" This blunt attack threw Peter into such 
confusion, that he flatly denied his having any connexion with Jesus, 
replying, " I am not," and adding, " I know not, neither understand 
I what thou sayest." As if he had said, I do not understand any 
reason for your asking me such a question. 

Thus the very apostle who had before acknowledged his Master to 
be the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and had so confidently 
boasted of his fortitude and firm attachment to him in the greatest 
dangers, proved himself to be an arrant deserted of his cause upon 
trial. 

His shameful fears were altogether inexcusable, as the enemy who 
attacked him was one of the weaker sex, and the terror of the charge 
was in a great measure taken off by the insinuation made in it, that 
23 



354 



T H E L I F E OF CHRIS T. 



John was likewise known to be Christ's disciple ; for as he was known 
at the high priest's, he was consequently known in that character. 
" Art thou not also one of this man's disciples ?" Art thou not one 
of them, as well as he who is sitting with you ? Nothing can account 
for this conduct of Peter, but the confusion and panic which had 
seized him on this occasion. As his inward perturbation must have 
appeared in his countenance and gesture, he did not choose to stay 
long with the servants at the fire. He went out, therefore, into the 
porch, where he was a little concealed. " And he went into the 
porch, after he had been some time there, another maid saw him, and 
began to say, to them that stood by, This is one of them. And again 
he denied with an oath, I do not know the man adding perjury to 
falsehood. 

After Peter had been thus attacked without doors, he thought 
proper to return and mix with the crowd at the fire. " And Simon 
Peter stood and warmed himself." From this circumstance it is clear 
that the ensuing was the third denial ; and that Peter left the porch 
where the second denial happened, and was come again into the hall. 
" Here one of the servants of the high priest (beiug his kinsman 
whose ear Peter cut off,) saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with 
him ? Peter then denied again, and immediately the cock crew." 

The words of Malchus's kinsman bringing to Peter's remembrance 
what he had done to that man, threw him into such a panic, that 
when those who stood by repeated the charge, he impudently denied 
it : " he even began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this 
man of whom ye speak." For when they heard Peter deny the 
charge, they supported it by an argument drawn from the accent 
with which he pronounced his answer. Surely thou art one of them, 
for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereto. So that 
being pressed on all sides, to give his lie the better color, he profaned 
the name of God, by imprecating the bitterest curses on himself if he 
was telling a falsehood. Perhaps he hoped, by these acts of impiety, 
to convince them effectually that he was not a disciple of the holy 
Jesus. 

Thus the apostle denied his Master three distinct times, with oaths 
and asseverations, totally forgetting the vehement protestations he had 
made a few hours before, that he would never deny him. He was, 
probably, permitted to fall in this manner, to teach us two lessons: 
first, that the strongest resolutions formed in our own strength cannot 
withstand the torrent of temptation ; secondly, that the true disciples 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



355 



of Christ, though they fall, may be brought to a conviction of their 
sin; for he no sooner denied his Master the third time, than the cock 
crew, and awakened in him the first consciousness of his sin. " And 
the Lord turned and looked upon Peter, And Peter remembered the 
word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, 
thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly." 
St. Luke is the evangelist who particularly mentions this beautiful 
circumstance of Christ turning and looking on Peter. The members 
of the council who sat on Jesus were placed at the upper end of the 
hall : at the other were the servants with Peter at the fire ; so that 
Jesus being probably placed on some eminence, that his judges, who 
were numerous, might see and hear him, could easy look over towards 
Peter, and observe him denying him, and in passionate terms, loud 
enough to be heard, perhaps, over all the place. The look pierced 
him, and with the crowing of the cock, brought his Master's predic- 
tion fresh into his mind. He was stung with deep remorse ; and be- 
ing unable to contain himself, he covered his face with his garment to 
conceal the confusion he was in, and going out into the porch, wept 
very bitterly. 

All this passed while the priests examined Jesus with many taunts 
and revilings ; and while the most zealous of Christ's disciples was 
denying him with oaths and imprecations, the people insulted him in 
the most inhuman manner. Thus a complication of injuries, insults,, 
and indignities was at one time heaped upon the blessed Redeemer, 
the meek and mild Jesus, in order to fulfil the prophecies concerning, 
him, and teach his followers a lesson of humility. 




EASTERN" WtNE PRESS. 



356 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XXXVi. 

THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD IS ARRAIGNED AT THE BAR OF THE SANHEDRIM, 
AND TRIED BY THE JEWISH COUNCIL. 

When the band of soldiers arrived at the high priest's with Jesus, 
they found there all the chief priests, the scribes and the elders assem- 
bled. " And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the 
chief priests and the scribes came together, and led him into their 
council. And the high priest asked Jesus of his disciples, and his 
doctrine." He inquired of him what his disciples were; for what end 
he had gathered them; whether it was to make himself a king; and 
what the doctrine was which he taught them. In these questions 
there was a great deal of art ; for as the crime laid to our Saviour's 
charge was, that he had set up for the Messiah, and deluded the peo- 
ple, they expected he would claim that dignity in their presence, and 
so would, on his own confession, have condemned him, without any 
further process. 

This was unfair, as it was artful and ensnaring. To oblige a pris- 
oner, on his trial, to confess what might take away his life, was a very 
inequitable method of proceeding, and Jesus expressed his opinion 
thereof with very good reason, and complained of it, bidding them 
prove what they had laid to his charge by witnesses. "Jesus an- 
swered him, I spake openly to the world : I ever taught in the syna- 
gogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort, and in se- 
cret have I said nothing. Why askest thou me? Ask them which 
heard me, what I have said unto them ; behold they know what I 
said." It was greatly to the honor of our blessed Redeemer that all 
his actions were done in public, under the eye even of his enemies ; 
because, had he been carrying on any imposture, the lovers of good- 
ness and truth had thus abundant opportunities of detecting him with 
propriety; he, therefore, in his defence, appealed to that part of his 
character, but his answer was construed to be disrespectful ; for " when 
he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by, struck Jesus 
with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest 
so ?" To which he meekly replied, with the greatest serenity, " If I 
6ave spoken evil, bear witness of the evil ; but if well, why smitest 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



357 



thou me?" Show me — prove before this court wherein my crime 
1 consists, or record it in the evidence on the face of my trial ; which, 
if you cannot, how can you answer this inhuman treatment to a de- 
fenceless prisoner, standing on his trial before the world, and in open 
court? Thus Jesus became an example of his own precept : "And if 
a man smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the left also," Matt, 
v. 44, bearing the greatest injuries with a patience that could not be 
provoked. 

When the council found that Jesus declined answering the ques- 
tions whereby they expected to have drawn from him an acknowledg- 
ment of his being the Messiah, they proceeded to examine many 
witnesses to prove his having assumed that character; as they consid- 
ered such a pretension as blasphemy in his mouth, who being only a 
man, according to their opinion, could not, without the highest affront 
to the Divine Majesty, pretend to the title of the Son of God, as it be- 
longed only to the Messiah. 

Bat in this examination, they acted like interested and enraged per- 
secutors, rather than impartial judges, forming their questions in the 
most artful manner, in order, if possible, to draw expressions from 
him which they might pervert into suspicions of guilt, as some foun- 
dation for condemning Jesus, who had so long and faithfully labored 
for their salvation. Their witnesses, however, disappointed them, 
some of them disagreeing in their story, and others mentioning things 
of no manner of importance. At last two persons agreed in their de- 
positions, namely, in hearing him say, that he was able to destroy the 
temple of God, and to raise it in three days. 

But this testimony was absolutely false ; for our great Redeemer 
never said he could destroy and build the temple of Jerusalem in 
three days, as they affirmed. It is true that after banishing the 
traders from the temple, when the Jews desired to know by what au- 
thority he undertook to make such a reformation, he referred them to 
the miracle of his resurrection ; bidding them " destroy this temple, 
(pointing probably to his body,) and in three days he would raise it 
up." The witnesses, therefore, either through malice or ignorance, 
perverted his answer into an affirmation, that he was able to destroy 
and build up the magnificent temple of Jerusalem in three days; and 
the judges considered this assertion as blasphemy, because it cculd be 
only done by the divine power. 

Our Saviour made no reply to the evidence that was produced 
against him, which greatly provoked the high priest, who, supposing 



358 



THE LIFE OF C II 11 1ST. 



that he intended by his silence to put an affront on the council, rose 
from his seat, and with great perturbation, demanded the reason for 
such remarkable conduct. 44 Answerest thou nothing?" said he: 
K behold how many things they witness against thee." And some of the 
council added, " Art thou the Christ?" To which our blessed Saviour 
answered, If I should tell you plainly, you would, not believe me: 
and if I should demonstrate it to you by the most evident and 
undeniable arguments, ye would neither be convinced, nor let 
me go. 

The high priest, finding all his attempts to entrap our Saviour in 
vain, said to him, I adjure you solemnly, by the dreadful and 
tremendous name of God, in whose presence you stand, that you 
tell us plainly and truly, whether you are the Messiah, the Son of 
God. 

The consequence attending his confession of the truth did not in- 
timidate the blessed Jesus ; for being adjured by the chief magistrate, 
he immediately acknowledged the charge, adding, Ye shall shortly see 
a convincing evidence of this truth, in that wonderful and unparal- 
leled destruction which I will send upon the Jewish nation ; in the 
quick and powerful progress which the gospel shall make upon the 
earth : and, finally, in my glorious appearance in the clouds of heaven 
at the last day, the sign you have so often demanded in confirmation 
of my mission. 

Upon our blessed Saviour's making this answer, a number of them 
cried out at once, " Art thou the Son of God ?" To which our great- 
Redeemer replied, " Ye say that I am :" a manner of speaking among 
the Jews, which expressed a plain and strong affirmation of the thing 
expressed. 

When the high priest heard this second assertion, he rent his 
clothes with great indignation, and said unto the council, Why need 
we to trouble ourselves to seek for any more witnesses ? Ye your- 
selves, nay, this whole assembly, are witnesses that he hath spoken 
manifest and notorious blasphemy; what think ye? To which they 
all replied, that for assuming to himself the character of the Messiah 
he deserved to be put to death. 

Then began the servants and common people to fall upon him as 
a man already condemned ; spitting upon him, buffeting him, aid of- 
fering him all manner of rudeness and indignities. They blindfolded 
him ; and some of the council, in order to ridicule him for having 
professed to be the great Prophet, bid him prophecy. 



359 



3G0 THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XXXVIL 

OUR BLESSED SAVIOUR IS CARRIED fSEFORE THE ROMAN GOVERNOR— THE TRAITOR 
JUDAS BECOMES HIS OWN EXECUTIONER — PILATE PUBLICLY ACQUITS JESUS, 
AND REFERS HIS CASE TO THE DECISION OF HEROD. 

The blessed Jesus being thus condemned by the unanimous voice 
of the grand assembly, it was resolved to carry him before the gover- 
nor, that he likewise might pass sentence on him. 

The Roman governors of Judea generally resided in Caesarea ; but 
at the great feasts they came up to Jerusalem to prevent or suppress 
tumults, and to administer justice ; it being a custom for the Roman 
governors of provinces to visit the principal towns under their juris- 
diction on this latter account. Pilate,* being accordingly come to 
Jerusalem some time before the feast, had been informed of the great 
ferment among the rulers, and the true character of the person on 

* Pontius Pilate was a Roman of noble birth, and was the sixth Roman pro- 
curator of Judea. He was appointed in the twelfth year of Tiberius, A. D., 25, 
and one of his first acts was to remove the headquarters of the Roman army from 
Cjesarea to Jerusalem. The troops, in taking up their quarters in the Holy City, 
brought with them their standards, on each of which was the image of the Em- 
peror. Pilate was then residing at Csesarea, and thither the Jews flocked in 
crowds, to beseech him to remove the idolatrous images from Jerusalem. Pilate 
withstood their entreaties for five days, and finally ordered his soldiers to massa- 
cre the petitioners ; but the Jews heroically informed him that they were resolved 
to die rather than cease their opposition to the idolatrous innovation. Pilate 
then granted their request, and had the standards brought back to their old quar- 
ters. On two occasions Pilate came near driving the Jews into insurrection, and 
in one of these massacred a number of Galileans, (see Luke xiii. 1.) As it was 
the custom of the Roman Governors t© reside at Jerusalem during the great 
leasts, for the purpose of keeping order in the city, Pilate was at Jerusalem when 
the events preceding the Saviour's crucifixion occurred. 

Some time after the Saviour's ascension, Pilate suppressed an insurrection of 
the, Samaritans in such a severe manner that the Samaritans brought charges 
against him, and he was sent to Rome to answer them before the Emperor. Ti- 
berius was dead, and Caligula was on the throne when he reached the Capital, 
A. D., 36. He was harshly received by the Emperor, and Euseoius asserts that, 
" wearied with misfortunes," he killed himself. The place of his death is uncer- 
tain. There is a tradition that he sought to hide his sorrows on the mountain, by 
the Lake of Lucerne, in Switzerland, now called Mount Pilatus, and that he spent 
several years here, a prey to remorse and despair, and finally drowned himself in 
the gloomy lake which.occupies the summit of the mountain. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 3(51 

whose account it was raised, for he entertained a just notion of it : 
" He knew that for envy they had delivered him." He knew the cause 
of their envy, was impressed with a favorable opinion of Jesus, and 
wished, if possible, to deliver him from his vile persecutors. 

Early in the morning the Jewish council brought Jesus to the hall 
of judgment, or governor's palace. They themselves, however, went 
not into the hall, but stood without, lest they should be denied, and 
rendered incapable of eating the passover. 

Now Judas Iscariot, who had delivered his Master into the hands 
of the council, finding his project turned out very differently from 
what he expected, was filled with the deepest remorse for what he had 
done. He saw all his golden dreams of temporal honors and advan- 
tages sunk at once to nothing. He saw his kind, his indulgent Mas- 
ter condemned, and forsaken by all his followers. He saw all this, 
and determined to make all the satisfaction in his power for the crime 
he had committed. Accordingly, he came and confessed openly his 
sin before the chief priests and elders ; offered them the money they 
had given him to commit it, and earnestly wished he could recall the 
fatal transaction of the preceding night. It seems he thought this 
was the most public testimony he could possibly give of his Master's 
innocence and his own repentance. I have, said he, committed a most 
horrid crime in betraying an innocent man to death. 

But this moving speech of Judas had no effect on the callous hearts 
of the Jewish rulers. They affirmed, that however he might think 
the prisoner innocent, and for that reason had sinned in bringing the 
sentence of death upon his head, they were not to blame, because they 
knew him a blasphemer, who deserved to die. "What is that to 
us ?" said they ; " see thou to that." Nay, they even refused to take 
back the money they had given him as a reward for performing the 
base act of betraying his Master. 

The deepest remorse now seized upon the wretched Judas, and his 
soul was agitated by the horrors of despair. The innocence and be- 
nevolence of his Master, the many favors ha himself had received from 
him, and the many kind offices he had done for the sons and daugh- 
ters of affliction, crowded at once into his mind, and rendered his tor- 
ments intolerable. 

Racked with those agonizing passions, and unable to support the 
misery, he threw down the wages of his iniquity in the temple ; and 
confessing at the same time his own sin and the innocence of his Mas* 
ter, went away in despair, and hanged himself. 



362 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



Thus perished Judas Iscariot, the traitor, a miserable example of 
the fatal influence of covetousiiess, and a standing monument of divine 
vengeance, to deter future generations from acting in opposition to the 
dictates of conscience, through a love of the things of this world, for 
which this wretched mortal betrayed his Master, his Friend, his Sa- 
viour, and accumulated such a load of guilt on himself as sunk his 
soul into the lowest pit of perdition. The pieces of silver cast down 
by Judas were gathered up and delivered to the priests, who, thinking 
it unlawful to put them into the treasury, because they were the 
wages of a traitor agreed to lay them out in purchasing the potter's- 
field, and to make it a common burial-place for strangers. 

This the evangelist tells us was done, that a particular prophecy, 
relating to the Messiah, might be fulfilled : "And they took the thirty 
pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the 
children of Israel did value, and gave them for the potter's-field, as 
the Lord appointed me." 

This prophecy is found in Zachariah ; but by a mistake of some 
copyist, the word Jeremiah is inserted in the Greek manuscripts of 
St. Matthew's gospel ; unless we suppose, with the learned Grotius, 
that this remarkable prophecy was first made by Jeremiah, and after- 
wards repeated by the immediate direction of the Spirit, by Zachariah ; 
and that, therefore, the evangelist has only ascribed the prophecy 
to its original author. But however this be, the prophecy is re- 
markable, and was remarkably fulfilled. And the evangelist, by thus 
appealing to a public transaction, puts the truth of this part of the his- 
tory beyond all manner of exception. 

We have already observed, that the chief priests and elders refused 
to go themselves into the judgment-hall, lest they should contract 
some pollutions in the house of a heathen, which Avould have rendered 
them unfit for eating the passover. The same reason also hindered 
them from entering the governor's palace on other festivals, when 
that magistrate attended in order to administer justice: a kind of 
structure was, therefore erected, adjoining to the palace, which served 
instead of a tribunal or judgment-seat. 

This structure, called in the Hebrew Gabbatha, was finely paved 
with small pieces of marble of different colors, being always exposed 
to the weather. One side of this structure joined to the palace, and a 
door was made in the wall, through which the governor passed to the 
tribunal. By this contrivance, the people might stand round the tri- 
bunal, in the open air, hear and see the governor when he spake 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



3C3 



to them from the pavement, and observe the whole administration 
of justice, without danger of being denied either by him or any of his 
retinue. 

Before this tribunal the great Redeemer of mankind was brought, 
and the priests and elders having taken their places round the pave- 
ment, the governor ascended the judgment-seat, and asked them what 
accusation they brought against the prisoner. Though nothing could 
be more natural than for the governor to ask this question, yet the 
Jews thought them- 



selves highly affront- 
ed by it, and haughtily 
answered, If he had 
not been a very great 
and extraord i nary 
malefactor, we should 
not have given you 
this trouble at all, 
much less at so un- 
seasonable an hour. 
Pilate then examined 
Jesus, and finding he 
had not been guilty 
either of rebellion or 
sedition, but that he 
was accused of partic- 
ulars relating to the 
religion and customs 



of the Jews, grew 
angry and said, What 
are these things to 
me ? Take him your- 
selves, and judge him 
according to your 
own law. Plainly insinuating, that 




STREET IN JERUSALEM!. 



in his opinion the crime they 
laid to the prisoner's charge was not of a capital nature ; and that such 
punishments as they were permitted by Csesar to inflict, were adequate 
to any misdemeanor that Jesus was charged with. But this proposal 
of the Roman governor was absolutely refused by the Jewish priests 
and elders, because it condemned the whole proceeding, and therefore 
they answered, We have no power to put any one death, as this man 



364 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



certainly deserves, who has attempted not only to make innovations in 
our religion, but also to set himself up for a king. 

The eagerness of the Jews to get Jesus condemned by the Roman 
governor, who often sentenced malefactors to be crucified, tended to 
fulfil the saying of our great Redeemer, who, during the course of his 
ministry, had often mentioned what kind of death he was, by the 
counsel of his father, appointed to die. Pilate finding it impossible 
to prevent a tumult, unless he proceeded to try Jesus, ascended again 
the judgment-seat, and commanded his accusers to produce their accu- 
sations against him., 

Accordingly they accused him of seditious practices, affirming that 
he had used every method in his power to dissuade the people from 
paying taxes to Csesar, pretending that he himself was the Messiah, 
the great King of the Jews, so long expected. But they brought no 
proof of these assertions. They only insinuated that they had already 
convicted him of this assertion, which was absolutely false. Pilate, 
however, asked him, Is it true what these men lay to your charge, 
that you have, indeed, attempted to set up yourself as king of the 
Jews? To which Jesus replied, Have you ever, during your stay in 
this province, heard anything of me, that gave you reason to suspect 
me guilty of secret practices, and seditious designs against the govern- 
ment ? Or do you found your question only on the present clamor 
and tumult that is raised against me? If this be the case, be very 
careful lest you be imposed on merely by the ambiguity of a word : 
for to be king of the Jews is not to erect a temporal throne in oppo- 
sition to that of Caesar, but a thing of a very different nature ; the 
kingdom of the Messiah is a heavenly kingdom. 

To which Pilate replied, Am I a Jew ? can I tell what your ex- 
pectations are, and in what sense you understand these words ! The 
rulers and chiefs of your own people, who are the most proper judges 
of these particulars, have brought you before me, as a riotous and 
seditious person : if this be not the truth, let me know what is, and 
the crime thou has been guilty of. Jesus answered, I have indeed a 
kingdom, and this kingdom I have professed to establish. But then 
it is not of this world, nor has my endeavors to establish it any ten- 
dency to cause disturbances in the government. For, had that been 
the case, my servants would have fought for me, and not suffered rue 
to have fallen into the hands of the Jews. But I tell you plainly, 
my kingdom is wholly spiritual. I reign in the hearts of my people, 
and subdue their wills and affections into a conformity to the will of 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



God. You acknowledge then in general, answered Pilate, that you 
have professed to be a king ? To which the blessed Jesus replied, 
In the sense I have told you I have declared, and do now declare 
myself to be a king. For this very end I was born, and for this pur- 
pose I came into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth ; 
and whosoever sincerely loves, and is always ready to embrace the 
truth, will hear my testimony and be convinced by it. Pilate an- 
swered, What is truth ? and immediately went out to the Jews, and 
said unto them, I have again examined this man, but can find him 
guilty of no fault, which according to the Roman law, is worthy of 
death. 

This generous declaration made by the governor, of the innocence 
of our blessed Saviour, had no effect on the superstitious and bigoted 
Jews. They even persisted in their accusations with more vehemence 
than before, affirming that he had attempted to raise a sedition in 
Galilee: "He stirreth up," said they, "the people, beginning from 
Galilee to this place." 

Jesus, however, made no answer at all to this heavy charge. Nay, 
he continued silent, notwithstanding the governor himself expressly 
required him to speak in his own defence. 

A conduct so extraordinary, in such circumstances, astonished 
Pilate exceedingly ; for he had great reason to be persuaded of the 
innocence of our dear Redeemer. The truth is, he was altogether 
ignorant of the divine connsel by which the whole affair was directed. 

There were many reasons which induced the blessed Jesus not to 
make a public defence. He came into the world purely to redeem 
lost and undone sinners by offering up himself a sacrifice for them, 
but had he pleaded with his usual force, the people had, in all proba- 
bility, been induced to ask his release, and consequently his death had 
been prevented. Besides, the gross falsehood of the accusation, known 
to all the inhabitants of Galilee, rendered any reply absolutely need- 
less. 

In the meantime the chief priests continued to accuse him, with 
great noise and tumult; and the meek and humble Jesus still continu- 
ing mute, Pilate spake again to him, saying, Wilt thou continue to 
make no defence ? Dost thou not hear how vehemently these men 
accuse thee ? But Pilate, recollecting what the chief priests had said 
with regard to a sedition in Galilee, asked if Jesus came out of that 
country, and on being informed he did, he immediately ordered him to 
be carried to Herod ; who was also then at Jerusalem. The governor 



366 



THE LIFE OF CHRIS T. 



supposed that Herod, in whose dominions the sedition was said to 
have been raised, must be a much better judge of the affair than him- 
self. Besides, his being a Jew rendered him more expert in the reli- 
gion of his own country, and gave him greater influence over the 
chief priests and elders ; he therefore considered him as the most 
proper person to prevail on the Jewish council to desist from their 
cruel prosecution. But if, contrary to all human probability, he 
should, at their solicitation, condemn Jesus, Pilate hoped to escape 
the guilt and infamy of putting an innocent person to death. He 
might also 'propose, by this action, to regain Herod's friendship, 
which he had formerly lost by encroaching, in all probability, on his 
privileges. But however that may be, or whatever motive induced 
Pilate to send our great Redeemer to Herod, the latter greatly re- 
joiced at this opportunity of seeing Jesus, hoping to have the pleasure 
of beholding him perform some great miracle. 

In this he was however disappointed ; for as Plerod had apostatized 
from the doctrine of John the Baptist, to which he was once probably 
a convert, and had even put his teacher to death, the blessed Jesus, 
however liberal of his miracles to the sons and daughters of affliction, 
would not work them to gratify the curiosity of a tyrant, nor even 
answer one of the many questions he proposed to him. 

Herod finding his expectations thus cut off, ordered our blessed 
Saviour to be clothed with an old robe, resembling in color those 
worn by kings, and permitted his attendants to insult him. From 
Herod's dressing him in this manner, it evidently appears that the 
chief priests and elders had accused him of nothing but his having 
assumed the character of the Messiah, for the affront put upon him 
was plainly in derision of that profession. 

The other head of accusation, namely, his having attempted to raise 
a sedition in Galilee, on account of the tribute paid to Csesar, they did 
not dare to mention, as Herod could not fail of knowing it to be a 
gross and malicious falsehood. And no crime worthy of death being 
laid to his charge, Herod sent him again to Pilate. It seems, that 
though he was displeased with the great Redeemer of mankind, for 
refusing to work a miracle before him, yet he did not think proper to 
comply with the wishes of his enemies. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIS T. 



3G7 



CHAPTER XXXVI I L 

THE ROMAN GOVERNOR FOR WANT OF EVIDENCE PROTOSES TO ACQUIT AND 
RELEASE JESUS THREE SEVERAL TIMES, BUT AT LENGTH, AT THE PRESSING 
INSTIGATION OF THE INVETERATE JEWS, HE CONDEMNS AND DELIVERS HIM UP. 

The Roman governors, in order to acquire popular applause, used 
generally, at the feast of the passover, to release a prisoner nominated 
by the people. At this feast there was one in prison named Barab- 
bas, who, at the head of numbers of rebels, had made an insurrection 
in the city, and committed murder during the confusion. 

The multitude being now again assembled before the governor's 
palace, began to call aloud on him to perform the annual office of 
mercy customary at that festival. 

Pilate, glad of this opportunity, told them that he was very willing 
to grant the favor they desired ; and asked them whether they would 
have Barabbas or Jesus released unto them. But without waiting 
for an answer, he offered to release Jesus, knowing that the chief 
priests had delivered him through envy ; especially as Herod had not 
found him guilty of the crimes laid to his charge. 

While these particulars were transacting, Pilate received a message 
from his wife, then with him at Jerusalem, and who had that morn- 
ing been greatly affected by a dream which gave her great uneasiness. 
The dream had so great an effect on this Roman lady, that she could 
not rest till she had sent an account of it to her husband, who was 
then sitting with the tribunal on the pavement, and begged him 
to have no hand in the death of the righteous person he was then 
judging. 

The people had not yet determined whether they would have Jesus 
or Barabbas released to them ; therefore, when Pilate received the 
message from his wife he called the chief priests and rulers together, 
and in the hearing of the multitude, made a speech to them, in which 
he gave them an account of the examination which Jesus had under- 
gone, both at his own and Herod's tribunal, declaring that in both 
courts it had turned out honorably to his character ; for which reason 
he proposed to them that he should be the object of the people's 
favor. 



368 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



Pilate did the priests the honor of desiring to know their incli- 
nations in particular, perhaps with a design to soften their stony 
hearts, and, if possible, to move them for once to an injured but inno- 
cent man. 

But he was persuaded that if pity was absolutely banished from 
their callous breasts, his proposal would have been acceptable to the 
people, whom he expected would embrace the first opportunity of de- 
claring in his favor. Yet in this he was disappointed. They 
cried out all at once, " Away with this man, and release unto us Ba- 
rabbas." 

Pilate himself was astonished at this determination of the multitude, 
and repeated his question, for he could hardly believe what he had 
himself heard. But on their again declaring that they desired Barab- 
bas might be released, he asked them what he should do with Jesus, 
which is called Christ? As if he had said, You demand that Barabbas 
should be released ; but what shall I then do with Jesus ? You can- 
not surely desire me to crucify him whom so many of you have ac- 
knowledged as your Messiah ? But they cried, saying Crucify him, 
crucify him ! Then Pilate saith unto them, Why? what evil hath he 
done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him!" 
They were so resolutely determined to have him destroyed, that, not- 
withstanding the governor urged them again and again to desire his 
release, declared his innocence, and offered several times to dismiss 
him, they would not hear it, uttering their rage, sometimes in hollow, 
distant, inarticulate murmurs, and sometimes in furious outcries ; to 
such a pitch were their passions raised by the craft and artful insinu- 
ations of their priests. Pilate, finding it therefore in vain to struggle 
with their prejudices, called for water, and washed his hands before 
the multitude, crying out at the same time that the prisoner had no 
fault, and that he himself was innocent of his blood. 

By this action and declaration Pilate seems to have intended to 
make an impression on the Jewish populace, by complying with the 
institution of Moses, which orders, in case of an unknown murder, 
the elders of the nearest city to wash their hands publicly, and say, 
" Our hands have not shed this blood." Deut. xxi. 7. And in allu- 
sion to this law the Psalmist says, "I will wash mine hands in inno- 
cence." 

According therefore to the Jewish rites, Pilate made the most sol- 
emn and public declaration of the innocence of our dear Redeemer, 
and of his resolution of having no hand in his death. But notwith- 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 36» 

standing the solemnity of this declaration, the Jews continued inflexi- 
ble, and cried out, with one voice, 11 His blood be on us and on our 
children." 

Dreadful imprecation ! It shocks humanity ! An imprecation 
which brought on them the dreadful vengeance of Omnipotence, and 
is still a heavy burden on that perfidious people! 

There is no madness equal to the madness of religious zeal; there 
are no quarrels more bitter and unreasonable than church quarrels, for 
conscience comes in to give intensity to the struggle. The mob that 
clamored for the life of Christ were as unthinking as men always are 
who assume that they are right and all others are wrong. Nothing 
would cool their fervor except blood, the blood of the innocent. Be- 
fore such a rabble the robber was in luck, and gained his liberty. 
The Christ fared sadly, for he was not a robber. 

The governor, finding it impossible to alter their choice, released 
unto them Barabbas. And as it was the general practice of the Ro- 
mans to scourge those criminals they condemned to be crucified, Pilate 
ordered the blessed Jesus to be scourged before he delivered him to 
the soldiers to be put to death. The soldiers, having scourged Jesus, 
and received orders to crucify him, carried him into the Prsetoriurn or 
common hall, wdiere they added the shame of disgrace to the bitter- 
ness of his punishment; for, sore as he was by reason of the stripes 
they had given him, they dressed him in a purple robe, in derision of 
his being king of the Jews. 

Having dressed him in this robe of mock-majesty, they put a reed 
in his hand, instead of a sceptre, and after platting a wreath of thorns, 
they put it on his head for a crown, forcing it down in so rude a man- 
ner that his temples were torn and his face besmeared with his most 
precious blood. 

To the Son of God in this condition the rude soldiers bowed the 
knee, pretending to do it out of respect ; but at the same time gave 
him severe blows on his head, which drove the points of the wreath 
afresh into his temples, and then spat on him to express their highest 
contempt. 

The governor, whose office obliged him to be present at this shock- 
ing scene of inhumanity, was ready to burst with grief. The sight 
of an innocent and virtuous man treated with such shocking barbarity 
raised in his breast the most painful sensations of pity. And though 
he had given sentence that it should be as the Jews desired, and had 
delivered our dear Redeemer to the soldiers to be crucified, he was in 



370 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



hopes that if he showed him to the people in that condition they must 
relent, and earnestly petition him to be released. 

Filled with this thought he resolved to carry him out, and exhibit 
to their view a spectacle capable of softening the most envenomed, 
obdurate, enraged enemy. And in order to render the impression 
still more poignant, he went out himself, and said unto them, Though 
I have sentenced this man to die, and have scourged him as one that 
is to be crucified, yet I once more bring him before you, that I may 
again testify how fully I am persuaded of his innocence, and that ye 
may yet have an opportunity of saving his life. As soon as the 
governor had finished his speech, Jesus appeared on the pavement, 
his hair, his face, his shoulders all clotted with blood, and the purple 
robe bedaubed with spittle of the soldiers. And that the sight of 
Jesus in this distress might make the greater impression on the peo- 
ple, Pilate, while he was coming forward, cried out, " Behold the 
man !" As if he had said. Will nothing make you relent? Have ye 
lost all the feelings of humanity, and bowels of compassion? Can 
you bear to see the innocent, a son of Abraham, thus injured? 

But all this was to no purpose. The priests, whose rage and malice 
had extinguished not only the sentiments of justice and feelings of 
pity natural to the human heart, but also that love which countrymen 
bear for each other, no sooner sa w Jesus than they began to fear the 
fickle populace might relent ; and therefore, laying decency aside, they 
led the way for the multitude, crying out, with all their might, 
" Crucify him ! crucify him !" 

Pilate, vexed to see the Jewish rulers thus obstinately bent on the 
destruction of a person from whom they had nothing to fear that was 
dangerous, either with regard to their church or state, passionately 
told them, that if they would have him crucified, they must do it 
themselves ; because he would not suffer his people to murder a man 
who was guilty of no crime. But this they also refused, thinking it 
♦lishonorable to receive permission to punish a person that had been 
more than once publicly declared innocent by his judge. Besides, 
they considered with themselves, that the governor might afterwards 
have called it sedition, as the permission had been extorted from 
him. 

Accordingly, they told him, that even though none of the things 
alleged against the prisoner were true, he had committed such a crime 
in presence of the council itself, as by their law deserved the most 
ignominious death. He had spoken blasphemy, calling himself the 



THE LIFE O F CHRIS T. 311 

Son of God, a title which no mortal could assume without the highest 
degree of guilt. " We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, 
because he made himself the Son of God." 

When Pilate heard that Jesus called himself the Son of God, his 
fear was increased. Knowing the obstinacy of the Jews in all matters 
of religion, he was afraid they would make a tumult in earnest ; or, 
perhaps, he was himself more afraid than ever to take away his life, 
because he suspected it might be true. 

He doubtless remembered the miracles said to have been performed 
by Jesus, and therefore suspected that he really was the Son of God. 
For it is well known that the religion which the governor professed 
directed him to acknowledge the existence of demi-gods and heroes, 
or men descended from the gods. Nay, the heathen believed, that 
their gods themselves appeared upon earth in the form of men. 
Keflections of this kind induced Pilate to go again into the judgment- 
hall, and ask Jesus from what father he sprung, and from what coun- 
try he came. But our blessed Saviour gave him no answer, lest the 
governor should reverse his sentence, and absolutely refuse to crucify 
him. 

Pilate marvelled greatly at this silence, and said unto Jesus, Why 
dost thou refuse to answer me ? You cannot be ignorant that I am 
invested with absolute power, either to release or crucify you. To 
which Jesus answered, I well know that you are Caesar's servant, and 
accountable to him for your conduct. I forgive you any injury which, 
contrary to your inclination, the popular fury constrains you to do 
an to me. Thou hast thy power from above, from the emperor ; for 
which cause the Jewish high priest, who hath put me into thy hands, 
and by pretending that I am Caesar's enemy, forces thee to condemn 
me ; or, if thou refusest, will accuse thee as negligent of the emperor's 
interest ; he is more guilty than thou. " He that delivered me unto 
thee hath the greater sin." 

This sweet and modest answer made such an impression on Pilate, 
that he went out to the people, and declared his intention of releasing 
Jesus, whether they gave their consent or not. 

Upon which the chief priests and rulers of Israel cried out, " If 
thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend : whosoever maketh 
himself a king, speaketh against Caesar." If thou releasest the pris- 
oner, who hath set himself up for a king, and has been accused of 
endeavoring to raise a rebellion in the country, thou art unfaithful to 
the interest of the emperor, thy master. 



S72 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



This argument was weighty, and shook Pilate's resolution to the 
very basis. He was terrified at the thought of being accused to Tibe- 
rius, who in all affairs of government always suspected the worst, and 
punished the most minute crimes relative thereto w r ith death. The 
governor being thus constrained to yield, contrary to his inclination, 
was very angry with the priests for stirring up the people to such a 
pitch of madness, and determined to affront them. He, therefore, 
brought Jesus out a second time into the pavement, wearing the pur- 




CHRIST'S ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM. 



pie robe and the crown of thorns; and, pointing to him, said, " Behold 
your king !" ridiculing the national expectation of the Messiah. 

This sarcastical expression stung them to the quick, and they cried 
out, "Away with him ! aw r ay with him ! Crucify him ! n To wmich 
Pilate answered, with the same mocking air, " Shall I crucify your 
king? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar." 
Thus did they publicly renounce their hope of the Messiah, which the 
whole economy of their religion had been calculated to cherish ; they 
also publicly acknowledged their subjection to the Romans ; and con- 
sequently condemned themselves when they afterwards rebelled against 
the emperor. 



THE L I F li 0 F C H H t ST. 873 



CHAPTER XXXiX. 

THE INNOCENT AND IMMACULATE REDEEMER IS LED FORTH TO MOUNT CALVARY, 
AND THERE IGNOMINIOUSLY CRUCIFIED BETWEEN TWO NOTORIOUS MALEFACTORS 
— REVILED BY THE SPECTATORS — A PHENOMENON APPEARS ON THE IMPORTANT 
OCCASION — OUR LORD ADDRESSES HIS FRIENDS FROM THE CROSS, AND GIVES UP 
THE GHOST. 

The solemn, the awful period now approached, when the Son of 
God, the Redeemer of the world, was to undergo the oppressive bur- 
den of our sins upon the tree, and submit unto death, even the death 
of the cross, that we might live at the right hand of God for ever 
and ever. Sentence being pronounced upon the blessed Jesus, the 
soldiers were ordered to prepare for his execution ; a command which 
they readily obeyed, and, after clothing him in his own garments, led 
him away to crucify him. It is not said that they took the crown of 
thorns from his temples; probably he died wearing it, that the title 
placed over his head might be the better understood. 

This title was written in Greek, and Hebrew, and Latin — significant 
fact; for as these were the three great languages of the world, the fact 
that Jesus was called King in each of them, although in derision, was 
nothing less than a prophecy that in all languages and among all 
nations his name should be known, his kingship should be acknowl- 
edged, and his peaceful reign be established. Like those three 
languages, all the languages of earth shall proclaim Jesus as the- 
King. 

It is not to be expected that the ministers of Jewish malice re- 
mitted any of the circumstances of affliction, which were ever laid on 
persons condemned to be crucified. Accordingly Jesus was obliged to 
walk on foot to the place of execution, bearing his cross. But the 
fatigue of the preceding night, spent without sleep, the sufferings he 
nad undergone in the garden, his having been hurried from place to' 
place and obliged to stand the whole time of his trial ; the want oi 
food, and the loss of blood lie had sustained, and not his want of 
courage on this occasion, made him faint under the burden of his 
cross. The soldiers, seeing him unable to bear the weight, laid it on 
one Simon, a native of Cyrene, in Egypt, the father of Alexander 
and Rufus, well known among the first Christians, and forced him to 



3U 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



bear it after the great Redeemer of mankind. The soldiers did not, 
however, do this out of compassion to the sufferings of Jesus, but to 
prevent his dying with the fatigue, and by that means elude his pun- 
ishment. 

The blessed Jesus, in this journey to Calvary, was followed by an 
innumerable multitude of people, particularly of women, who la- 
mented bitterly the severity of his sentence, and showed all the tokens 
of sincere compassion and grief. 

Jesus, who always felt the woes of others more than he did his 
own, forgetting his distress at the very time when it lay heaviest upon 
him, turned himself about, and, with a benevolence and tenderness 
truly divine, said to them, " Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, 
but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days 
are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and 
the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. 
Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to the 
hills, Cover us. For, if they do these things in a green tree, what 
shall be done in the dry ?" Luke xxiii. 28, etc. As if he had said, 
Dry up these tears, ye daughters of Jerusalem, which ye shed in com- 
passion to me, and reserve them for the deplorable fate of yourselves 
and of your children ; for the calamities that will soon fall on you 
and your offspring 1 are truly terrible, and call for the bitterest lamen- 
tations. In those days of vengeance you will passionately wish that 
you had not given birth to a generation whose wickedness has ren- 
dered them the objects of the wrath of the Almighty to such a degree 
as never was before experienced in the world. Then shall they wish 
to be crushed under the weight of enormous mountains, and concealed 
from their enemies in the bowels of the hills. The thoughts of these 
calamities afflict my soul far more than the feeling of my own suffer- 
ings ; for if the Romans are permitted to inflict such punishments on 
me, who am innocent, how dreadful must the vengeance be which 
they shall inflict on a nation whose sins cry aloud to Heaven, hasten- 
ing the pace of the divine judgments, and rendering the perpetrators 
as proper for punishment as dry wood is for the flames ! 

Being arrived at the place of execution, which was called Golgotha, 
or the place of skulls, from the criminal's bones which lay scattered 
there, some of our Redeemer's friends offered him a stupefying potion, 
to render him insensible to the ignominy and excruciating pain of his 
punishment. But as soon as he tasted the potion he refused to drink 
it. being determined to bear his sufferings, however sharp, not by in- 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



375 



toxicating and stupefying himself, but by the strength of patience, 
fortitude, and faith. Jesus having refused the potion, the soldiers 
bagan to execute their orders by stripping him quite naked, and in 
that condition began to fasten him to his cross. But while they were 
piercing his hands and his feet with nails, instead of crying out 
through the sharpness of the pain, he calmly, though fervently, prayed 
for them, and for all those who had any hand in his death ; beseech- 
ing his Heavenly Father to forgive them, and excusing them himself 
by the only circumstance that could alleviate their guilt ; I mean, 
their ignorance. 
" Father," said the 
compassionate Re- 
deemer of man- 
kind, " forgive 
them, for they 
know not what 
they do." This 
was infinite meek- 
ness and goodness, 
truly worthy of 
the only-begotten 
Son of God; an 
example of for- 
giveness which, 
though it can 
never be equalled 
by any, should be 
imitated by all. 

But behold the 
appointed soldiers 
dig the hole in which the cross was to be erected. The cross is placed 
in the ground, and the blessed Jesus lies on # the bed of sorrows. 
They nail him to it. His nerves break. His blood distils. He 
hangs upon his wounds naked, a spectacle to heaven and earth. Thus 
was the only-begotten Son of God, who came down from heaven to 
save the world, crucified by his own creatures ; and, to render the 
ignominy still greater, placed between two thieves. " Hear, O 
heavens ! O earth, earth, earth, hear ! The Lord hath nourished 
and brought up children, and they have rebelled against him." 

It was usual for the crimes committed by malefactors to be written 




THE WAY TO CALVARY. 



376 



THE LIFE Of CHRIST. 



on a white board with black, and placed over tlieir heads on the cross. 
In conformity to this custom, Pilate wrote a title in the Hebrew, 
Greek, and Latin languages", that all foreigners, as well as natives, 
might be able to read it, and fastened it to the cross, over the head 
of Jesus ; and the inscription was, " this is the King of the Jews." 
But when the chief priests and elders had read this title they were 
greatly displeased ; because as it represented the crime for which 
Jesus was condemned, it insinuated that he had been acknowledged 
for the Messiah. Besides, being placed over the head of one who was 
dying by the most infamous punishment, it implied that all who at- 
tempted to deliver the Jews should perish in the same manner. The 
faith and hope of the nation therefore being thus publicly ridiculed, 
it is no wonder that the priests thought themselves highly affronted ; 
and accordingly came to Pilate, begging that the writing might be 
altered. But as he had intended the affront in revenge for their forc- 
ing him to crucify Jesus contrary both to his judgment and inclination, 
he refused to grant their request. " What I have written," said he, 
" I have written." When the soldiers had nailed the blessed Jesus to 
the cross, and erected it, they divided his garments among them ; but 
his coat, or vesture, being without seam, woven from the top through- 
out, they agreed not to rend it, but to cast lots for it, by which the 
prediction of the prophet concerning the death and sufferings of the 
Messiah was fulfilled. " They parted my garments among them, and 
for my vesture did they cast lots." 

A sufficient indication that every circumstance of the death and 
passion of the blessed Jesus was long before determined in the court 
of heaven; and accordingly his being crucified between two malefac- 
tors was expressly foretold : " And he was numbered with the trans- 
gressors." Isa. liii. 12. 

The common people, of the baser sort, whom the vile priests had 
incensed against the blessed Jesus, by the malicious falsehoods they 
had spread concerning hirn, and which they pretended to found on 
the deposition of witnesses ; the common people, I say, seeing him 
hang in so infamous a manner upon the cross, and reading the inscrip- 
tion that was placed over his head, expressed their indignation at him 
by sarcastical expressions. " Ah thou," said they " that destroyest 
the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself, and come down 
from the cross." But the common people were not the only persons 
who mocked and derided the blessed Jesus while he was suffering to 
obtain the remission of sins for all mankind. The rulers, who now 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



377 



imagined they had effectually destroyed his pretensions to the charac- 
ter of the Messiah, joined the populace in ridiculing him; and with a 
meanness of soul which many infamous wretches would have scorned, 
mocked him, even while he was struggling with the agonies of death. 
They scoffed at the miracles by which he demonstrated himself to be 
the Messiah, and promised to believe in him, on condition of his 
proving his pretensions by descending from the cross. " He saved 
others," said they, "himself he cannot save. If he be the king of 
Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe 
him" 

In the meantime nothing could be more false and hypocritical than 
this pretension of the stiff-necked Jews ; for they afterwards continued 
in their unbelief, notwithstanding they well knew that he raised him- 
self from the dead; a much greater miracle than his coming down 
from the cross would have been ; a miracle attested by witnesses whose 
veracity they could not call in question. It was told them by the 
soldiers whom they themselves placed at the sepulchre to watch the 
body, and whom they w r ere obliged to bribe largely to conceal the 
truth. 

It was hard for the chief priests and rulers of the Jews to confess 
their mistake. A miracle might be wrought before their eyes, yet 
even this would not have produced such a miracle as changing their 
opinions and overcoming their prejudices. The rending of the tomb 
was no more marvelous than would have been the breaking of the 
fetters of their bigotry. When men have taken sides, and have 
embarked everything to bolster up their cause, standing pledged to 
maintain their opinions, and are too proud to acknowledge themselves 
in error, they can do a thing so desperate as to crucify the Christ. 
There is a point beyond which reason no longer rules ; it has been 
dethroned by passion. Its kingdom is wrested away, and it is an 
exile from its own dominions. Then acts the most insane may be 
looked for; crimes are perpetrated in the very name of religion; 
cruelties may be accounted the achievements of justice; blood and 
rapine can be excused. It is folly to plead with bigotry, stubborn- 
ness and vindictive passion. 

It is, therefore, abundantly evident, that if the blessed Jesus had 
descended from the cross, the Jewish priests would have continued in 
•their infidelity; and consequently that their declaration was made 
with no other intention than to insult the Redeemer of mankind, 
thinking it impossible for him now to escape out of their hands. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



The soldiers also joined in this general scene of mockery: "If thou 
be the king of the Jews/' said they " save thyself." If thou art the 
great Messiah expected by the Jews, descend from the cross by mira- 
cle, and deliver thyself from these excruciating torments. Nor did 
even one of the thieves forbear mocking the great Lord of heaven and 
earth, though laboring himself under the most racking pains, and 
struggling with the agonies of death. 

But the other exercised a most extraordinary faith, at a time when 
our great Redeemer was in the highest affliction, mocked by men, 
and hanged upon the cross, as the most ignominious of malefactors. 
This Jewish criminal seems to have entertained a more rational and 
exalted notion of the Messiah's kingdom than even the disciples them- 
selves. They expected nothing but a secular empire; he gave strong 
intimations of his having an idea of Christ's spiritual dominion; for 
at the very time when Jesus was dying on the cross, he begged to be 
remembered by him when he came into his kingdom. " Lord/' said 
he, " remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." Nor did 
he make this request in vain : the great Redeemer of mankind an- 
swered him, " Verily, I say unto thee, to-day shalt thou be with me 
in paradise." 

But let us attentively consider the history of our blessed Saviour's 
passion, as it offers to our view events absolutely astonishing. For 
when we remember the perfect innocence of our great Redeemer, the 
uncommon love he bore to the children of men, and the many kind 
and benevolent offices he did for the sons and daughters of affliction ; 
when we reflect on the esteem in which he was held all along by the 
common people, how cheerfully they followed him to the remotest 
corners of the country, nay, even into the desolate retreats of the 
wilderness, and with what pleasure they listened to his discourses ; 
when we consider these particulars, I say we cannot help being aston- 
ished to find them at the conclusion rushing all of a sudden into the 
opposite extremes, and every individual as it were combined to treat 
him with the most barbarous cruelty. When Pilate asked the people 
if they desired to have Jesus released, his disciples, though they were 
very numerous, and might have made a great appearance in his 
behalf, remained absolutely silent, as if they had been speechless, o? 
infatuated. 

The Roman soldiers, notwithstanding their general had declared 
him innocent, insulted him in the most inhuman manner. The 
scribes and Pharisees ridiculed him. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



379 



The common people, who had received him with hosannas a few 
days before, mocked him as they passed by, and railed at him as a 
deceiver. Nay, the very thief on the cross reviled him. This sudden 
revolution in the humors of the whole nation may seem unaccounta- 
ble. But if we could assign a proper reason for the silence of the 
disciples, the principles Avhich influenced the rest might be discovered 
in their several speeches. The followers of the blessed Jesus had 
attached themselves to him in expectation of being raised to great 
wealth and power in his kingdom, which they expected would have 
been established long before this time. But seeing no appearance 
at all of what they had so long hoped for, they permitted him to be 
condemned, perhaps because they thought it would have obliged him 
to break the Roman yoke by miracle. 

With respect to the soldiers, they were angry that any one should 
pretend to royalty in Judea, where Caesar had established his authority. 
Hence they insulted our blessed Saviour with the title of King, and 
paid him, in mockery, the honors of a sovereign. 

As for the common people, they seem to have lost their opinion 
of him, probably because he had neither convinced the council nor 
rescued himself when they condemned him. They began, therefore, 
to consider the story of his pretending to destroy the temple and build 
it in three days, as a kind of blasphemy, because it required Divine 
power to execute such an undertaking. 

The priests and scribes were filled with the most implacable and 
diabolical malice against him, because he had torn off their masks of 
hypocrisy and showed them to the people in their true colors. It is, 
therefore, no wonder that they ridiculed his miracles, from whence he 
derived his reputation. 

In short, the thief also fancied that he might have delivered both 
himself and them, if he had been the Messiah ; but as no such deliver- 
ance appeared, he upbraided him for making pretensions to that high 
character. 

But now, my soul, take one view of thy dying Saviour, breathing 
out his soul upon the cross ! Behold his unspotted flesh lacerated 
with stripes, by which thou art healed ! See his hands extended, and 
nailed to the cross ; those beneficent hands which were incessantly 
stretched out to unloose thy heavy burdens, and to impart blessings 
of every kind ! Behold his feet riveted to the accursed tree with 
nails ! those feet which always went about doing good, and travelled 
far and near to spread the glad tidings of everlasting salvation ! 



380 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



View his tender temples encircled with a wreath of thorns, which 
shoot their keen afflictive points into his blessed head, that head 
which was ever meditating peace to poor, lost and undone sinners, 
and spent many a wakeful night in ardent prayers for their happiness! 
See him laboring in the agonies of death, breathing out his soul into 
the hands of his Almighty Father, and praying for his cruel enemies! 
Was ever love like this? Was ever benevolence so gloriously dis- 
played ? 

But see the sun, that glorious luminary of heaven, as it were, hides 
his face from this detestable action of mortals, is wrapped in the pitchy 
mantle of chaotic darkne&s ! 

This preternatural eclipse of the sun continued for three hours, to 
the great terror and astonishment of the people present at the cruci- 
fixion of our dear Redeemer. And surely nothing could be more 
proper than this extraordinary alteration in the face of nature, while 
the Sun of Righteousness was withdrawing his beams, not only from 
the promised land, but from the whole world ; for it was at once a 
miraculous testimony given by the Almighty himself to the innocence 
of his Son, and a proper emblem of the departure of him who was the 
light of the world ; at least till his luminous rays, like the beams of 
the morning, shone out anew with additional splendor in the ministry 
of his apostles. 

Nor was the darkness which now covered Judea and the neighbor- 
ing countries, beginning about noon and continuing till Jesus expired, 
the effect of an ordinary eclipse of the sun. It is well known that 
this phenomena can only happen at the change of the moon ; whereas 
the Jewish passover, at which time our dear Redeemer suffered, was 
always celebrated at the full. 

Besides, the total darkness of an eclipse of the sun never exceeds 
twelve or fifteen minutes, whereas this continued three full hours. 
Nothing, therefore, but the immediate hand of that Almighty Being, 
which placed the sun in the centre of the planetary system, could 
have produced this astonishing darkness. Nothing but Omnipotence, 
who first lighted this o-iorious lurninarv of heaven, could have de- 
prived it of its cheering rays. Now, ye scoffers of Israel, whose blood 
have ye so earnestly desired, and wished it might fall upon you and 
your children ? Behold all nature is dressed in the sable veil of sor- 
row, and, in a language that cannot be mistaken, mourns the depart- 
ure of its Lord and Master, weeps for your crimes, and deprecates the 
vengeance of heaven upon your guilty heads ! Happy for you that 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



381 



this suffering Jesus is compassion itself, and even in the agonies of 
death prays to his heavenly Father to avert from you the stroke of 
his justice ! 

This preternatural eclipse of the sun was considered as a miracle 
by the heathen themselves ; and one of them cried out, " Either the 
world is at an end, or the God of nature suffers !" and well might he 
use the expression ; for never, since this planetary system was called 
from its primitive chaos, was known such a deprivation of light in 
the glorious luminary of day. 

Indeed, when the Almighty punished Pharaoh for refusing to let 
the children of Israel depart out of his land, the sable veil of darkness 
was for three days drawn over Egypt. But this darkness was con- 
fined to a part of that kingdom ; whereas, this that happened at our 
Saviour's crucifixion was universal. 

When the darkness began, the disciples naturally considered it as 
a prelude to the deliverance of their Master. For, though the chief 
priests, elders, and people had sarcastically desired him to descend 
from the accursed tree, his friends could not but be persuaded that he 
who had delivered so many from incurable diseases, who had restored 
limbs to the maimed and eyes to the blind, who had given speech to 
the dumb and called the dead from the chambers of the dust, might 
easily save himself, even from the cross. 

When, therefore, his mother, his mother's sister, Mary Magdalene, 
and the beloved disciple observed the veil of darkness begin to extend 
over the face of nature, they drew near to the foot of the cross, prob- 
ably in expectation that the Son of God was going to shake the frame 
of the universe, unloose himself from the cross, and take ample ven- 
geance on his cruel and perfidious enemies. 

The blessed Jesus was now in the midst of his sufferings. Yet 
when he saw his mother and her companions, their grief greatly af- 
fected his tender breast, especially the distress of his mother. The 
agonies of death under which he was now laboring could not prevent 
his expressing the most affectionate regard both for her and for them. 
For, that she might have some consolation to support her under the 
greatness of her sorrows, he told her, the disciple whom he loved would, 
for the sake of that love, supply his place to her after he was taken from 
them, even the place of a son : and therefore he desired her to consider 
him as such, and expect from him all the duties of a child. " Wo- 
man," said he, " behold thy son !" 

Nor was this remarkable token of filial affection towards his mother 



382 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



the only instance the dying Jesus gave of his sincere love to his 
friends and followers; the beloved disciple had also a token of his 
highest esteem. He singled him out as the only person among his 
friends to supply his place with regard to his mother. 

Accordingly, he desired him expressly to reverence her in the same 
manner as if she had been his own parent. A duty which the favor- 
ite disciple gladly undertook, carried her with him to his house, and 
maintained her from that hour to the day of her death ; her husband, 
Joseph, having, it seems, been dead some time. 

Thus, in the midst of the heaviest sufferings that human nature 
ever sustained, the blessed Jesus demonstrated a divine strength of 
benevolence. Even at the time when his own distress was at the 
highest pitch, and nature was dressed in the robe of mourning for the 
sufferings of the Redeemer of mankind, his friends had so large a 
share of his concern, that their happiness interrupted the sharpness of 
his pains, and for a short time engrossed his thoughts. 

But now the moment when he should resign his soul into the hands 
of his heavenly Father approached, and he repeated part, at least, of 
the twenty-second Psalm, uttering, with a loud voice, these remark- 
able words, " Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani ? that is, My God, my God, 
why hast thou forsaken me ?" Some believe that our blessed Saviour 
repeated the whole Psalm ; it having been the custom of the Jews, in 
making quotations, to mention only the first words of the Psalm or 
section which they cite. If so, as this Psalm contains the most re- 
markable particulars of our dear Redeemer's passion, being as it 
were, a summary of all the prophecies relative to that subject, 
by repeating it on the cross, the blessed Jesus signified that he was 
now accomplishing the things that were predicted concerning the 
Messiah. 

And as this Psalm is composed in the form of a prayer, by pro- 
nouncing it at this time, he also claimed of his Father the perform- 
ance of all the promises he had made, whether to him or to his 
people. 

Some of the people who stood by, when they heard our blessed 
Saviour pronounce the first words of the Psalm, misunderstood him ; 
probably from their not hearing him distinctly, and concluded that he 
called for Elias. Upon which one of them filled a sponge with vine- 
gar, put it on a reed, and gave him to drink ; being desirous of keep- 
ing him alive as long a possible, to see whether Elias would come to 
take him down from the cross. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



383 



But as soon as Jesus had tasted the vinegar, he said, " It is finished." 
That is, the work of man's redemption is accomplished : that great 
work which the only-begotten Son of God came into the world to 
perform, is finished. In speaking these words, he cried with an ex- 
ceedingly loud voice, and afterwards addressed his Almighty Father 
in words which form the best pattern of a recommendatory prayer at 
the hour of death, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. ,> And 
having uttered these words, " he bowed his head, and yielded up the 
ghost." 

But, behold ! at the very instant that the blessed Jesus resigned his 
soul into the hands of his Heavenly Father, the veil of the temple was 
miraculously rent from the top to the bottom, probably in the pres- 
ence of the priest who burnt incense in the holy place, and who, 
doubtless, published the account when he came out; for our blessed 
Saviour expired at the ninth hour, the very time of offering the even- 
ing sacrifice. 

Nor was this the only miracle that happened at the death of the 
great Messiah ; the earth trembled from its very foundations, the flinty 
rocks burst asunder, and the sepulchres hewn in them were opened, 
and many bodies of saints, deposited there, awakened after his resur- 
rection from the sleep of death, left the gloomy chambers of the tomb, 
went into the city of Jerusalem, and appeared unto many. And as 
the rending of the veil of the temple intimated that the entrance into 
the holy place, the type of heaven, was now laid open to all nations ; 
so the resurrection of a number of saints from the dead demonstrated 
that the power of death and the grave was broken ; the sting was 
taken from death, and the victory wrested from the grave. In short, 
our dear Redeemer's conquests over the enemies of mankind were 
shown to be complete, and an earnest was given of the general resur- 
rection from the dead. 

Nor did the remarkable particulars which attended that awful 
period when Jesus gave up the ghost affect the natives of Judea 
only. 

The Roman centurion, who was placed near the cross to prevent 
disorders of anv kind, glorified the Almighty, and cried out, " Truly 
this was the Son of God !" And others who were with them, when 
they beheld heaven itself bearing witness of the truth of our great 
Redeemer's mission, smote their breasts and retired. 

They had been incessant with loud voices to have him crucified ; 
but when they saw T the face of the creation wrapt in the gloomy mantle 



384 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



of darkness during his crucifixion, and found his death accompanied 
with an earthquake, as if nature had been in an agony when he died, 
they rightly interpreted these prodigies to be so many testimonies from 
the Almighty of his innocence ; and their passions, which had been 
inflamed and exasperated against him, became quite calm or exerted 
in his behalf. 

Some were angry with themselves for neglecting the opportunity 
the governor gave them of saving his life. Some were stung with 
remorse for having been active in procuring Pilate to condemn him, 
and even offering the most bitter insults, while he labored under the 
crudest of sufferings ; and others were deeply affected at beholding the 
pains he suffered, which were rigorously severe. These various pas- 
sions being visibly painted in their countenances, afforded a melan- 
choly spectacle ; the whole multitude returning from the cruel execu- 
tion with their eyes fixed upon the earth, pensive and silent; their 
hearts ready to burst with grief, groaned deeply within themselves, 
shedding floods of tears, and smiting on their beasts. 

The grief they now felt for the blessed Jesus was distinguished from 
their former rage against him by this remarkable particular, that their 
rage was entirely owing to the artful insinuations of the priests; 
whereas their grief was the genuine and natural feeling of their own 
hearts, greatly affected with the truth and innocence of him who was 
the object of their commiseration. And as flattery had no share in 
this mourning, so the expressions of their sorrow were such as became 
a real and unfeigned passion. Thus was demonstrated, by many aw- 
ful tokens, the truth, the divinity, the power of our Redeemer's 
mission ; the blind, the obdurate Jews were struck with horror, fully 
convinced that the person they had cruelly put to death was nothing 
less than the Son of God, the promised Messiah, the Saviour of the 
world. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



385 



CHAPTER XL. 

THE BLESSED JESUS IS TREATED WITH INDIGNITY AFTER HIS CRUCIFIXION— A 
PIOUS PERSON BEGS HIS BODY OF PILATE, IN ORDER FOR INTERMENT. 

It was expressly forbidden by the law of Moses that the bodies of 
those who were hanged should remain all night on the tree. In con- 
formity to this law, and because the Sabbath was at hand, the Jews 
begged the governor that the legs of the three persons crucified might 
be broken, to hasten their death. To this request Pilate readily con- 
sented ; and accordingly gave the necessary order to the soldiers to 
put it in execution. But on perceiving that Jesus was already dead, 
the soldiers did not give themselves the trouble of breaking his legs, 
as they had done those of the two malefactors that were crucified with 
him. One of them, however, either out of wantonness or cruelty, thrust 
a spear into his side, and out of the wound flowed blood and water. 
This wound, therefore, was of the greatest importance to mankind, as 
it abundantly demonstrated the truth of our Saviour's death, and 
consequently prevented all objections that the enemies to our holy 
faith would otherwise have raised against it. The evangelist adds, 
that the legs of our great Redeemer were not broken, but his side 
pierced, that two particular prophecies might be fulfilled : "A bone of 
him shall not be broken," and "They shall look on him whom they 
have pierced." 

Among the disciples of our blessed Jesus was one called Joseph of 
Arimathea, a person equally remarkable for his birth, fortune, and 
office. This man, who was not to be intimidated by the malice of his 
countrymen, went boldly to Pilate and begged the body of his great 
Master. He had indeed nothing to fear from the Roman governor, 
who, during the whole course of our Saviour's trial, had shown the 
greatest inclination to release him ; but he had reason to apprehend 
that this action might draw upon him the malice of the rulers of the 
Jews, who had taken such great pains to get the Messiah crucified. 

However, the great regard he had for the remains of his Master 
made him despise the malice of the Jews, being persuaded that Om- 
nipotence would defend him, and cover his enemies with shame and 
confusion. And he well knew that if no, friend procured, ai grant of 
25 



386 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



the body, it would be cast out among the executed malefactors. 
Pilate was at first surprised at the request of Joseph; thinking it 
highly improbable that he should be dead in so short a time. He 
had indeed given orders for the soldiers to break the legs of the cruci- 
fied persons; but he knew it was not common for them to live many 
hours after that operation was performed. The governor therefore 
called the centurion, to know the truth of what Joseph had told him; 
and being convinced, from the answer of that officer, that Jesus had 
been dead some time, he readily gave the body to Joseph, who 
repaired to Mount Calvary, and being assisted by Nicodemus, took 




THE BURIAL OF 'CHRIST. 



the body down from the cross. The latter showed a courage far 
superior to that of any of his apostles, not only assisting Joseph in 
taking down the body of Jesus from the cross, but bringing with him a 
quantity of spices necessary in the burial of his Saviour. 

Accordingly they wrapped the body, with the spices, in fine linen, 
and laid it in a new sepulchre, which Joseph had hewn out of a rock 
for himself. This sepulchre was situated in a garden near Mount 
Calvary; and in which having carefully deposited the body of Jesus, 
they fastened the door by rolling to it a very large stone. 

The women of Galilee, who had watched their dear Redeemer in 
liis last moments and accompanied his body to the sepulchre, obscrv- 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



881 



ing that the funeral rites were performed in a hurry, agreed among 
themselves, as soon as the Sabbath was passed, to return to the sepul- 
chre, and embalm the body of their dead Saviour, by anointing and 
swathing him in the manner then common among the Jews. Ac- 
cordingly they retired to the city, and purchased the spices necessary 
for that purpose; Nicodemus having furnished only a mixture of 
myrrh and aloes. 

During these transactions, the chief priests and Pharisees, remem- 
bering that Jesus had more than once predicted his own resurrection, 
came to the governor and informed him of it, begging at the same 
time that a guard might be placed at the sepulchre, lest his disciples 
should carry away the body, and affirm that he was risen from the 
dead. This happened a little, before it was dark in the evening, 
called " the next day that followed," by the evangelist, because the 
Jewish day began at sunset. This request being thought reasonable 
by Pilate, he gave them leave to take as many soldiers as they pleased 
out of the cohort, which at the feast came from the castle of Antonia, 
and kept guard in the porticos of the temple. For that they w r ere not 
Jewish but Roman soldiers, whom the priests employed to" watch the 
sepulchre, is evident from their asking them of the governor. 

Besides when the soldiers returned with the news of our Saviour's 
resurrection, the priests desired them to report that his disciples had 
stolen him away while they slept ; and to encourage them to tell the 
falsehood, boldly promised, that if their neglect of duty came to the 
governor's ears, proper methods should be used to pacify him, and 
deliver them from any punishment ; a promise which there was no 
need of making to their own servants. 

The priests having thus obtained a guard of Roman soldiers, men 
long accustomed to military duties, and therefore the most proper for 
watching the body, set out with them to the sepulchre ; and to pre- 
vent these guards from combining with the disciples in carrying on 
any fraud, placed them at their post, and sealed the stone which was 
rolled to the door of the sepulchre. 

Thus, what was designed to expose the mission and doctrines of 
Jesus as rank falsehood and vile imposture, proved in fact the strong- 
est confirmation of the truth and divinity of the same that could possi- 
bly be given ; and placed what they wanted to refute, which was his 
resurrection from the dead, even beyond a doubt. 



388 THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XLL 

TWO PIOUS WOMEN GO TO VIEW THE SEPULCHRE OF THEIR CRUCIFIED LORD AK8 
SAVIOUR AN AWFUL PHENOMENON HAPPENS — A MINISTERING SPIRIT DE- 
SCENDS — THE REDEEMER BURSTS THE CHAINS OF DEATH, AND RISES FROM THE 
TOMB. 

Very early in the morning, after the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene 
and ■ the 'other Mary came to visit the sepulchre, in order to embalm 
t)ur Lord's body; for the performance of which they had, in conceri 
with several other women from Galilee, brought ointments and spices. 




THE RESURRECTION. 

But before they reached the sepulchre, there was a great earthquake 
preceding the most memorable event that ever happened among the 
children of men— -the resurrection of the Son of God from the dead. 
"For the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and 
rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His counte- 
nance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow; and for 
fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men ; " they 
fled into the city, and the Saviour of the world rose from the dead. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



389 



The angel, who had till then sat upon the stone, quitted his station, 
and entered into the sepulchre* In the meantime, Maiy Magdalene 
and the other Mary were still on their way to the place, together 
with Salome, who joined them on the road. As they proceeded on 
their way they consulted among themselves with regard to the method 
of putting their design of embalming the body of their Master in 
execution ; particularly with respect to the enormous stone which they 
had seen placed there with the utmost difficulty two days before. 
"Who," said they, " shall roll us away the stone from the door of 
the sepulchre? for it is very great" 

But in the midst of this deliberation about removing this great and 
sole obstacle to their design, (for it does not appear they knew any- 
thing of the guard,) they lifted up their eyes, and perceived it was 
already rolled away. 

Alarmed at so extraordinary and unexpected a circumstance, Mary 
Magdalene concluded that the stone could not have been rolled away 
without some design, and that those who rolled it away could have 
no other intent than that of removing our Lord's body. Imagining, 
by appearances, that they had really done so, she ran immediately to 
acquaint Peter and John with what she had seen, and what she sus- 
pected, leaving Mary and Salome there, that if the other women should 
arrive during her absence, they might acquaint them with their sur- 
prise at finding the stone removed, and of Mary Magdalene's running 
to inform the apostles of it. 

In the meantime the soldiers, who were terrified at seeing an awful 
messenger from on high roll away the stone from the door of the 
sepulchre, and open it in quality of a servant, fled into the city, and 
informed the Jewish rulers of these miraculous appearances. 

This account was highly mortifying to the chief priests, as it was a 
proof of our Saviour's resurrection that could not be denied ; they 
therefore resolved to stifle it immediately, and accordingly bribed the 
soldiers to conceal the real fact, and to publish everywhere that his 
disciples had stolen the body out of the sepulchre. 

What ! the body taken away while the place was guarded by Ro- 
man soldiers ! Yes, according to these wise priests, the disciples stole 
the body while the soldiers slept ! A story so inconsistent, and which 
so evidently carries the marks of its own confutation with it, deserves 
no answer. 

The priests themselves could not be so stupid as not to foresee what 
construction the world would put upon the account given by persons 
who pretended to know and tell what was done while they were asleep. 



390 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XLII. 

THE ANGEL ADDRESSES THE PIOUS WOMEN — TWO DISCIPLES GO TO THE SEPUL- 
CHRE — JESUS APPEARS TO MARY MAGDALENE — AFTERWARDS TO A COMPANY OP 
WOMEN — PETER MEETS HIS LORD AND MASTER, AFTER HIS RESURRECTION. 

While Mary Magdalene was going to inform the disciples that 
the stone was rolled away from the mouth of the sepulchre, and the 
body taken away, Mary and Salome continued advancing towards the 
place, and at their arrival found what they expected, the body of 
their beloved Master gone from the sepulchre where it had been de- 
posited by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea ; but at the same 
time beheld, to their great astonishment, a beautiful young man in 
shining raiment, very glorious to behold, sitting on the right side of 
the sepulchre. 

Matthew tells us, that it was the angel who had rolled away the 
stone, and frightened away the guards from the sepulchre. It seems he 
had now laid aside his terrors in which he was then arrayed, and 
assumed the form and dress of a human being, in order that these 
pious women, who had accompanied oar Saviour during the greatest 
part of the time of his public ministry, might be as little terrified as 
possible. 

But notwithstanding his beauty and benign appearance, they were 
greatly affrighted, and on the point of turning back, when the heav- 
enly messenger, to banish their fears, told them, in a gentle accent, 
that he knew their errand. " Fear not," said he, " for I know that 
ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here; for he is risen, 
as he said and then invited them to come down into the sepulchre, 
and view the place where the Son of God had lain : that is, to look 
on the linen clothes, and the napkin that was about his head, and 
which he had left behind him when he arose from the dead : for to 
look at the place in any other view would not have tended to confirm 
their faith of his resurrection. 

The women greatly encouraged by the agreeable news, as well as 
by the peculiar accent with which this blessed messenger from the 
heavenly Canaan delivered his speech, went down into the sepulchre, 
when behold another of the angelic choir appeared ! 



HE IS RISEN." 

391 



392 



THE LIFE OF CHBIST. 



They did not, however, yet seem to give sufficient credit to what 
was told them by the angel : and therefore the other gently reproved 
them for seeking the living among the dead, with an intention to do 
him an office due to the latter, and for not believing what was told 
them by a messenger from heaven, or rather for not remembering the 
words which their great Master had himself told them with regard to 
his own resurrection. " Why seek ye the living among the dead ? 
He is not here, but is risen : remember how he spake unto you when 
he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of man must be delivered into 
the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise 
again. M 

When the women had satisfied their minds by looking at the place 
where the Lord had lain, and where nothing was to be found but the 
linen clothes, the angel who first appeared to them resumed the dis- 
course, and bade them go and tell his disciples, particularly Peter, the 
glad tidings of his Master's resurrection from the dead ; that he was 
going before them to Galilee, and that they should there have the 
.pleasure of seeing him. 

The reason why the disciples were ordered to go into Galilee to 
meet their great and beloved Master seems to be this : they were now 
most of them in Jerusalem, celebrating the passover ; and it may be 
easily imagined, that on receiving the news of their Lord's resurrec 
tion, many, if not all, would resolve to tarry in Jerusalem, in expec- 
tation of meeting him there ; a thing which must have proved of great 
detriment to them at that time of the year, when the harvest was 
about to begin, the sheaf of first-fruits being always offered on the 
second day of the passover-week. 

In order, therefore, to prevent their staying so long from home, the 
message was sent directing them to return into Galilee, with full assur- 
ance that they should there have the pleasure of seeing their great 
Lord and Master ; and by that means have all their doubts removed, 
and be fully convinced that he had patiently undergone all his suffer- 
ings for the sins of mankind. 

The women, highly elated with the news of their Lord's resurrec- 
tion, left the sepulchre immediately, and ran to cany the disciples the 
glad tidings. 

During these transactions at the sepulchre, Peter and John, having 
been informed by Mary Magdalene that the stone was rolled away 
and the body of Jesus not to be found, were hastening to the grave, 
and missed the women who had seen the appearance of angels* 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



393 



The disciples being astonished at what Mary Magdalene had told 
them, and desirous of having their doubts cleared up, made all the 
haste possible to the sepulchre ; and J ohn being younger than Peter 
arrived at the place first, but did not go in, contenting himself with 
stooping down and seeing the linen clothes lying, which had been 
wrapped about our Saviour's body. Peter soon arrived and went to 
the sepulchre, when he saw the "linen clothes lie: and the napkin 
that was about his head mot lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped 
together in a place by itself." 

Our Lord left the grave-clothes in the sepulchre, probably to show 
that his body was not stolen away by his disciples, who in such a case 
would not have taken time to have stripped it. 

Besides, the circumstances of the grave-clothes induced the disci- 
ples themselves to believe when the resurrection was related to them ; 
but at that time they had not any suspicion that he was risen from 
the dead. 

These two disciples having thus satisfied themselves that what 
Mary Magdalene had told them was really true, returned to their re- 
spective habitations ; but Mary, who had returned, continued weeping 
at the door of the sepulchre. She had, it seems, followed Peter and 
John to the garden, but did leave it with them, being anxious to find 
the body. 

Accordingly, stepping down into the place to examine it once more, 
6he saw two angels sitting, the one at the head and the other at 
the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. They were now in the 
same position as when they appeared to the other women ; but had 
rendered themselves invisible while Peter and John were at the sepul- 
chre. 

Mary, on beholding these heavenly messengers dressed in the robes 
of light, was greatly terrified. But they, in the most endearing 
accent, asked her, "Woman, why weepest thou?" "Because they 
have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid 
him." On pronouncing these words she turned herself about, and 
saw Jesus standing near her ; but the terror she was in, and the gar- 
ments in which he was now dressed, prevented her from knowing him 
for some time. Jesus repeated the same question used before by the 
angel : " Woman, why weepest thou ?" To which Mary, who now 
supposed him to be the gardener, answered, Sir, if his body be trouble- 
some in the sepulchre, and thou hast removed him, tell me where he 
is deposited, and I will take him away. But our blessed Saviour, 



594 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



willing to remove her anxiety, called her by her name, with his usual 
tone of voice. On which she immediately knew him, and falling 
down before him would have embraced his knees, according to that 
modesty and reverence with which the women of the East saluted the 
men, especially those who were their superiors in station. 

But Jesus refused this compliment, telling her that he was not 
going immediately to heaven. He was often to show himself to the 
disciples before he ascended, so that she would have frequent oppor- 
tunities of testifying her regard to him ; and at the same time said to 
her, " Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend to my Father 
and your Father, and to my God and your God." Thus did the 
blessed Jesus contemplate with a singular pleasure the work of 




THE WOMEN AT THE TOMB OF CHRIST. 



redemption he had just finished. The happy relation between God 
and man, which had been long cancelled by sin, was now renewed. 
The Almighty, who had disowned them on account of their disobedi- 
ence, was again reconciled to them ; he was become their God and 
Father; they were exalted to the honorable relation of Christ's 
brethren and the sons of God ; and their Father loved them with an 
affection far exceeding that of the most tender-hearted parent. The 
kindness of the message sent by our dear Redeemer to his disciples 
will appear above all praise, if we remember their late behavior. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



395 



Simon, a Cyrenian, was compelled by the Roman soldiers to ease 
him of his ponderous burden. But notwithstanding they had refused 
to assist their Master during, his sufferings for the sins of the world, 
he graciously, he freely forgave them : he assured them of their par- 
don, and called them even by the endearing name of brethren. 

There is something very remarkable in this part of the history. 
None of the apostles, or male disciples were honored with the appear- 
ance of the angels, or with the immediate news of the resurrection of 
the Son of God, much less with the appearance of Jesus himself. 

The angels in the sepulchre kept themselves invisible all the time 
that Peter and John were observing the linen clothes, and satisfying 
themselves that the body of their Master was not there. Perhaps the 
male disciples in general were treated with this mark of disrespect, 
both because they had, with shameful cowardice, forsaken their Mas- 
ter when he w r as betrayed into the hands of his enemies, and because 
their faith was so weak that they had absolutely despaired of his 
being the Messiah when they saw him expire on the cross. But how 
different was the conduct of the women ! Laying aside the weakness 
and timidity natural to their sex, they showed an uncommon mag- 
nanimity on this melancholy occasion. For, in contradiction to those 
of the Jews w r ho so vehemently required Jesus to be crucified as a 
deceiver, they proclaimed his innocence by tears, cries, and lamenta- 
tions, when they saw him led forth to surfer on Mount Calvary ; ac- 
companied him to the cross, the most infamous of all punishments ; 
kindly waited on him in his expiring moments, giving him all the 
consolation in their power, though at the same time the sight of his 
suffering pierced them to the heart ; and when he expired, and his 
body was carried off, they accompanied him to his grave, not despair- 
ing, though they found he had not delivered himself, but to" appear- 
ance was conquered by death, the universal enemy of mankind. Per- 
haps these pious women entertained some faint hopes that he would 
still revive, or, if they did not entertain expectations of that kind, 
they at least cherished a strong degree of love for their Lord, and 
determined to do him all the honor in their power. 

A faith so remarkably strong, a love so ardent, and a fortitude so 
unshaken, could not fail of receiving distinguished marks of the 
divine approbation ; and they were accordingly honored with the 
news of Christ's resurrection before the male disciples had their eyes 
cheered with the first sight of their beloved Lord, after he arose from 
the chambers of the grave, so that they preached the joyful tidings 
of his resurrection to the apostles themselves. 



396 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



The women, on their arrival, told as many of the disciples as they 
could find, that they had seen at the sepulchre the appearance of 
angels, who assured them that Jesus was risen from the dead. This 
new information astonished the disciples exceedingly ; and as they 
had before sent Peter and John to examine into the truth of what 
Mary Magdalene had told them concerning the body being removed 
out of the sepulchre, so they now judged it highly proper to send 
some of their number to see the angels, and learn from them the joy- 
ful tidings of that great transaction of which the women had given 
them an account. 

That it was really the case, appears from what the disciples, in 
their journey to Emmaus, told their great Lord and Master, namely, 
that when the women came and told them that they had seen the 
angels, certain of their number went to the sepulchre, and found it 
even as the women had said, but him they saw not. 

This second deputation from the apostles did not go alone ; for as 
Mary Magdalene returned with Peter and John, who were sent to 
examine the truth of her information, so the women who brought an 
account of the appearance of angels, in all probability returned with 
those who were sent to be witnesses of the truth of their report. 
Besides curiosity, they had an errand thither. The angels had ex- 
pressly ordered them to tell the news to Peter in particular ; for which 
reason, when they understood that he was gone to the sepulchre, it is 
natural to think they would return with the disciples to seek him. 
About the time that the disciples and women set out for the sepulchre, 
Peter and John reached the city ; but passing through a different 
street, did not meet their brethren. 

The disciples having a great desire to reach the sepulchre, soon left 
the women behind, and just as they arrived, Mary Magdalene, having 
seen the Lord, was coming away. But they did not meet her, be- 
cause they entered the garden at one door while she was coming out 
at another. When they came to the sepulchre they saw the angels, 
and received from them the news of their blessed Master's resurrec- 
tion ; for St. Luke tells us, " They found it even as the women had 
said." Highly elated with what they saw, they departed and ran 
back to the city with such expedition, that they gave an account of 
what they had seen in the hearing of the two disciples before Mary 
Magdalene arrived. 

Nor will their speed appear at all incredible, if we consider that 
the nature of the tidings the apostles had to carry gave them wings, 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



as it were, to make their brethren partakers of their joy at this sur- 
prising transaction. 

In the meantime the company of women, who followed the dis- 
ciples, happened to meet Peter and John, But they had not gone far 
from the sepulchre before Jesus himself met them, and said, "All 
hail !" On which they approached their great Lord and Master, 
" held him by the feet and worshipped him." 

This favor of embracing his knees Jesus had previously refused 
to Mary Magdalene, because it was not then necessary : but he granted 
it to the women, because the angel's words having strongly impressed 
their minds with the notion of his resurrection, they might have 
taken his appearing for an illusion of their own imagination, had he 
not permitted them to touch him, and convince themselves by the 
united reports of their senses, that he was their great Lord and Mas- 
ter who wa3 then risen from the dead, after having suffered on the 
cross for the sins of mankind. 

This company of pious women having tarried some time with 
Jesus on the road, did not arrive with the joyful tidings of their 
great Master's resurrection till some time after Peter and John; and 
perhaps were overtaken by Mary Magdalene on the road, unless we 
suppose that she arrived a few minutes before them. But be that as 
it may, this is certain, that they arrived either at or near the same 
time ; so that their accounts of this miraculous event tended to con- 
firm each other. 

The disciples were now lost in astonishment at what the women 
had related ; they considered the account they had before given them, 
of their having seen the angels, as an improbability, and now they 
seem to have considered this as something worse ; for the evangelists 
tell us that they believed not. 

Peter, indeed, to whom the angel sent the message, was disposed 
by his sanguine temper to give a little more credit to their words than 
the rest ; possibly because the messengers from the heavenly Canaan 
had done him the honor of naming him in particular. Elated with 
the respect thus paid him, he immediately repaired again to the sep- 
ulchre ; hoping, in all probability, that his Master would appear to 
him, or at least the angel who had so particularly distinguished him 
from the rest of the disciples. 

As soon as Peter arrived at the sepulchre he stooped down, and 
seeing the linen clothes lying in the same manner as before, he viewed 
their position, the form in which they were laid, and returned, wan- 
dering greatly in himself at what had happened. 



898 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

JESUS APPEARS ON DIVERS OCCASIONS TO DIFFERENT DISCIPLES — REPROVES AND 
CONVINCES THOMAS OF HIS UNBELIEF — SHOWS HIMSELF TO A GREAT NUMBER 
OF HIS FOLLOWERS IN GALILEE. 

Soon after the women's first return to the disciples with the news 
that they had seen the appearance of angels, who told them that 
Jesus was risen from the dead, two of the brethren departed on their 
journey to a village called Emma us, about two miles distant from 
Jerusalem. The concefn they were in on account of the death of 
their great and beloved Master, was sufficiently visible in their coun- 
tenances ; and as they pursued their journey, talking with one an- 
other, and debating about the things that had lately happened among 
them, concerning the life and doctrine, the sufferings and death of the 
holy Jesus, and of the report that was just spread among his dis- 
ciples of his being that very morning risen from the dead, Jesus him- 
self overtook them and joined company with them. 

As he appeared like a stranger, they did not in the least suspect 
that their fellow-traveller was no other than the great Redeemer of 
the sons of men. He soon entered into discourse with them, by en- 
quiring what event had so closely engaged them in conversation, and 
why they appeared so sorrowful and dejected, as if they had met with 
some heavy disappointment. 

One of them, whose name w r as Cleophas, being surprised at the 
question, replied, Is it possible that you can be so great a stranger to the 
affairs of the world, as to have been at Jerusalem, and not have heard 
the surprising events that have happened there; events that have aston- 
ished the whole city, and are now the constant topic of conversation 
among all the inhabitants ? Jesus asked what surprising events he 
meant. To which Cleophas replied, The transactions which have hap- 
pened concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who appeared as a great prophet 
and teacher sent from God; and accordingly was highly venerated 
among the people, for the excellency of his doctrine, his humility of life, 
and the number, benefit, and greatness of his miracles. Our chief priests 
and elders, therefore, envying him as one who lessened their authority 
over the people, apprehended him, and found means to put him to death. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



399 



But we firmly believe he would have proved himself the Messiah, 
or great deliverer. And this persuasion we a long time supported ; 
nor were we willing to abandon it, even when we saw him put to 
death. But it is now three days since these things were done, and 
therefore begin to fear we Avere mistaken. 

This very morning, indeed, a thing happened which extremely sur- 
prises us, and we are very solicitous with regard to the event. Some 
f women, who had entertained the same hopes and expectations as we, 
going early in the morning to pay their last duties to their Master, by 
embalming his body, returned with great haste to the city, and in- 
formed us that they had been at the sepulchre, but were disappointed 
in not finding the body : and, to increase our surprise, they added, 
that they had seen the appearance of angels, who told them that Jesus 
was risen from the dead. 

This relation seemed at first to us as not probable, nay, altogether 
incredible; but two of the company going immediately after to the 
sepulchre, found everything exactly as the women had reported. 
They saw the angels, but heard not anything of the body ; so that we 
are still in doubt and perplexity with regard to this wonderful event. 

In reply Jesus said, AVhy are ye so very averse to believe all that 
the prophets have with one voice predicted concerning the Messiah ? 
Is it not clearly and very expressly foretold, in all the prophetic 
writings, that it was appointed by the counsel of Omnipotence for the 
Messiah to suffer in this manner, and that after sustaining the greatest 
indignities, reproach, and contempt from the malice and perverseness 
of mankind, and even undergoing an ignominious and cruel death, he 
should be exalted to a glorious and eternal kingdom ? Having said 
this, he began at the writings of Moses, and explained to them, in 
order, all the principal passages, both in the books of that great legis- 
lator and the writings of the other prophets, relating to his own suffer- 
ings, death, and glorious resurrection. 

And this he did with such surprising plainness, clearness, and 
strength, that the two disciples, not yet suspecting who he was, were 
as much amazed to find a stranger so well acquainted with all that 
Jesus did and suffered, as they at first wondered at his appearing to 
be totally ignorant of these transactions. 

They were also astonished to hear him interpret and apply the 
scriptures to their present purpose, with such readiness and convincing 
clearness of argument, as carried with it a strange and unusual au- 
thority and efficacy. When, therefore, they came to the village whither 



400 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



they were going, and Jesus seemed as if he would have passed on and 
travelled further, they, desirous of his company, pressed him in the 
strongest manner to tarry with them that night, as it was then late. 

To this request the great Redeemer of mankind consented; and 
when they were sat down to supper, he took bread and gave thanks 
to God, and brake it, and gave it to them, in the same manner he 
used to do while he conversed with them upon earth before his death. 
This engaged their attention, and looking steadfastly on him, they 
perceived it was their great and beloved Master. 

But they had then no time to express their joy and astonishment to 
their benevolent Redeemer, for he immediately vanished out of their 
sight. 

As soon as they found their Master was departed, they said one to 
another, How slow and stupid were we before, not to know him upon 
the road, while he explained to us the scriptures ; when, besides the 
affability of his discourse and the strength and clearness of his argu- 
ments, we perceived such an authority in what he said, and such a 
powerful efficacy attending his words, even striking our hearts with 
an affection, that we could not but have known, if we had not been 
remarkably stupid, to have been the very same that used to accompany 
his teaching, and was peculiar to it. 

This surprising event would not admit them to stay any longer in 
Emmaus. They returned that very night to Jerusalem, and found 
the apostles, with several other disciples, discoursing about the resur- 
rection of their Master ; and on their entering the room the disciples 
accosted them, saying, " The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared 
unto Simon. " 

They had given little credit to the reports of the women, supposing 
they were occasioned more by imagination than reality. But when a 
person of Peter's capacity and gravity declared he had seen the Lord, 
they began to think that he was really risen from the dead. And 
their belief was greatly confirmed by the arrival of the two dis- 
ciples from Emmaus, who declared to their brethren how Jesus had 
appeared to them on the road, and how they discovered him to be 
their Master by the circumstance before related. 

While the disciples from Emmaus were thus describing the manner 
of the appearing of Jesus to them, and offering arguments to convince 
those who doubted the truth of it, their great Master himself put an 
end to the debate, by standing in the midst of them, and saying, 
" Peace be unto you." 



THE ANGEL AT THE TOMB. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



401 



This appearance of our blessed Saviour greatly terrified the disci- 
ples, who supposed they had seen a spirit; for, having secured the 
doors of the house, where they were assembled, for fear of the Jews, 
and Jesus having opened the locks by his miraculous power, without 
the knowledge of any in the house, it was natural for them to think 
that a spirit only could enter. The circumstance, therefore, of the 
doors being shut is very happily mentioned by St. John, because it 
suggests a reason why the disciples took their Master for a spirit, 
notwithstanding many of them were convinced that he was really 
risen from the dead, and were at that moment conversing about his 
resurrection. 

But, to dispel their fears and doubts, Jesus came forward, and 
spoke to them in the most endearing manner, showed them his hands 
and his feet, and desired them to handle him, in order to convince 
themselves, by the united powers of their different senses, that it was 
he himself, and no spectre or apparition. " Why are ye troubled," 
said the benevolent Redeemer of mankind, " and why do thoughts 
arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I 
myself: handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as 
ye see me have." 

These infallible proofs sufficiently convinced the disciples of the 
truth of their Lord's resurrection, and they received him with rapture 
and exultation. But their joy and wonder had so great an effect on 
their minds, that some of them, sensible of the great commotion they 
were in, suspended their belief, till they had considered the matter 
more calmly. Jesus, therefore, knowing their thoughts, called for 
meat, and eat with them, in order to prove more fully the truth of his 
resurrection from the dead, and the reality of his presence with them 
on this occasion. 

After giving this further ocular demonstration of his having van- 
quished the power of death and opened the tremendous portals of the 
grave, he again repeated his salutation, " Peace be unto you adding, 
The same commission that my Father hath given unto me I give 
unto you : go you, therefore, into every part of the world, and preach 
the gospel to all the children of men. Then, breathing on them, 
he said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost to direct and assist you in the 
execution of your commission. Whosoever embraces your doctrine, 
sincerely repents, and believes on me, ye shall declare unto him 
the free forgiveness of his sins, and your declaration shall be ratified 
and confirmed in the courts of heaven ; and whosoever <tither obsti- 
26 



402 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



nately rejects your doctrine, disobeys it, or behaves himself unworthily 
after he hath embraced it, his sins shall not be forgiven him ; but 
the censure ye shall pass upon him on earth shall be confirmed in 
heaven. 

Thomas, otherwise called Didymus, was absent at this meeting of 
the apostles, nor did this happen without the special direction of 
Providence, that the particular and extraordinary satisfaction which 
was afterwards granted him might be an abundant and undeniable 
testimony of the truth of our blessed Saviour's resurrection to all suc- 
ceeding generations. The rest of the apostles, therefore, told him that 
they had seen the Lord, and repeated to him the words he had de- 
livered in their hearing. But Thomas replied, This event is of such 
great importance that, unless, to prevent all possibility of deception, I 
see him with mine own eyes, and feel him with mine own hands, put- 
ting my fingers into the print of the nails whereby he was fastened to 
the cross, and thrust my hand into his side which the soldier pierced 
with his spear, I will not believe that he is really and truly risen 
from the dead. 

Thus have we enumerated, in the most explicit manner, the trans- 
actions of that day on which the great Redeemer of mankind arose 
from the dead ; a day highly to be remembered by the children of 
men throughout all generations. A day in which was fully com- 
pleted and displayed the conceptions lodged in the breast of infinite 
Wisdom ; even those thoughts of love and mercy on which the salva- 
tion of the world depended. Christians have, therefore, the highest 
reason to solemnize this day with gladness, each returning week, by 
ceasing from their labor, and giving up themselves to hearing and 
reading the word of God, pious meditations, and other exercises of 
religion. The redemption of mankind, which they weekly com- 
memorate, affords matter for eternal praise ; it is a subject impossible 
to be equalled, and whose lustre neither length of time nor frequent 
reviewiug can either tarnish or diminish. 

Eight days after the resurrection of our great Redeemer, the blessed 
Jesus showed himself again to his disciples while Thomas Avas with 
them, and upbraided that disciple for his unbelief : but knowing that 
it did not, like that of the Pharisees, proceed from a wicked mind, 
but from an honest heart and a sincere desire of being satisfied of the 
truth, he thus addressed himself to his doubting disciple : " Thomas," 
said he, "since thou wilt not be contented to rely on the testimony 
of others, but must be convinced by the experience of thy own senses, 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



403 



behold the wounds in my hands, and reach hither thy hand, and 
thrust it into my side, and doubt no longer of the reality of my resur- 
rection." 

Thomas was immediately induced to believe, by the invitation of 
his dear Master, and, being fully satisfied, he cried out, I am abun- 
dantly convinced : thou art indeed my Lord, the very same that was 
crucified ; and I acknowledge thy Almighty power in having tri- 
umphed over death, and worship thee as my God. 

To which the blessed Jesus replied: Because thou hast seen, 
Thomas, thou hast believed that I am really risen from the dead • but 
blessed are they who, without such evidence of the senses, shall, upon 
credible testimony, be willing to believe and embrace a doctrine 
which tends so greatly to the glory of God and the salvation of the 
sons of men. 

St. John adds, that the blessed Jesus appeared on several other oc- 
casions to his disciples after his resurrection j and, by many clear and 
infallible proofs, not mentioned by the evangelists, fully convinced 
them that he was alive after his passion. But that those which are 
mentioned are abundantly sufficient to excite men to believe that 
Jesus was the Son of God, the great Messiah so often foretold 
by the ancient prophets ; and that by means of that belief they 
may obtain everlasting life, in the happy regions of the heavenly 
Canaan. 

Our blessed Saviour having, first by the angels and afterwards in 
person, ordered his disciples to repair to their respective habitations 
in Galilee, it is reasonable to think they would leave Jerusalem as 
soon as possible. This they accordingly did, and, on their#arrival at 
their respective places of abode, applied themselves to their usual 
occupations ; and the apostles returned to their old trade of fishing 
on the lake of Tiberius. Here they were toiling with their nets very 
early in the morning, and saw Jesus standing on the shore, but did 
not then know him to be their Master, as it was somewhat dark, and 
they at a considerable distance from him. He, however, called to 
them, and asked if they had taken any fish ; to which they answered, 
they had caught nothing. He then desired them to let down 
their nets on the right side of the boat, and they should not be dis- 
appointed. 

The disciples, imagining that he might be acquainted with the 
places proper for fishing, did as he had directed them, and enclosed in 
their net such a prodigious multitude of fishes, that they were not able 



404 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



to draw it into the boat, but were forced to drag it after them in the 
water towards the shore. 

It seems they had toiled all the preceding night to no purpose ; 
and therefore such remarkable success could not fail of causing vari- 
ous conjectures among them, with regard to the stranger on the shore 
who had given them such happy advice. Some of the apostles de- 
clared they could not imagine who he was ; but others were persuaded 
that this person was no other than their great and beloved Master. 
John was fully convinced of his being the Lord, and accordingly told 
his thoughts to Simon Peter ; who, making no doubt of it, girded on 
his fisher's coat, and leaped into the sea, in order to get ashore sooner 
than the boat could be brought to land, dragging after it a net full 
of large fishes. When the disciples came ashore they found a fire 
kindled, and on it a fish broiling, and near it some bread. But 
neither being sufficient for the company, Jesus bade them bring 
some of the fish they had now caught, and invited them to eat with 
him. Thus did the blessed Jesus prove again to his disciples the 
reality of his resurrection, not only by eating with them, but by work- 
ing a miracle like that which, at the beginning of his ministry, had 
made such an impression upon them as disposed them to be his con- 
stant followers. 

This was the third time that Jesus appeared publicly to a great 
number of his disciples in a body, besides his showing himself at 
several times to particular persons upon special occasions. 

When they had eaten, Jesus reminded Peter how diligent and zeal- 
ous he ought to be in order to wipe off the stain of his denying him 
when he was carried before the high priest. 

Simon, son of Jonas, said our blessed Saviour to him, art thou more 
zealous and affectionate in thy love toward me than the rest of my 
disciples ? To which Peter answered, " Yea, my Lord, thou knowest. 
that I love thee." He was taught modesty and diffidence by his late 
fall, and therefore would not compare himself with others, but humbly 
appealed to his Master's omniscience for the sincerity of his regard to 
him : Jesus answered : Express then thy love towards me by the care 
of my flock, committed to thy charge. "Feed my lambs — Feed my 
sheep." Show thy love to me by publishing the great salvation I 
have accomplished, and feeding the souls of faithful believers with that 
food which never perishes, but endures for ever and ever. 

I well know, indeed, continued the blessed Jesus, that thou wilt 
continue my faithful shepherd even until death. For the time will 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



405 



come when thou, who now girdest on thy fisher's coat voluntarily, 
and stretehedst out thy hands to come to me, shalt iu thine old age 
be girt by others, and forced to stretch out thy hands against thy will, 
in a very different manner, for the sake of thy constant profession of 
my religion. 

By these last words, Jesus signified the manner of Peter's death, 
and that he should finally suffer martyrdom for the glory of God, and 
the testimony of the truth of the Christian religion. 

The time being now come when the disciples were to meet their 
great Lord and Master, according to the messages he had sent them 
by the women, and in all probability appointed at some former ap- 
pearance not mentioned by the evangelists, the brethren set out for the 
mountain in Galilee, perhaps that on which he was transfigured. 
Here five hundred of them were gathered together, expecting the 
joyful sight of their great Master, after he had triumphed over death 
and the grave ; some of them not having yet seen him after his resur- 
rection. 

They did not wait long before Jesus appeared, on which they were 
seized with rapture, their hearts overflowed with gladness, they ap- 
proached their kind, their benevolent Master, and worshipped him. 
Some few, indeed, doubted ; it being a thing agreeable to nature for 
men to be afraid to believe what they vehemently wish, lest they 
should indulge themselves in false joys, which vanish like a morning 
cloud. 

But Jesus afterwards appeared frequently to them, and gave them 
full satisfaction, and instructed them in many things relating to their 
preaching the gospel, establishing the church, and spreading it through 
the whole earth. 



406 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

OUR BLESSED LORD INSTRUCTS HIS DISCIPLES IK "WHAT MANNER THEY SHOULD 
CONDUCT THEMSELVES IN ORDER TO PROPAGATE THE DOCTRINE OP THE GOS- 
PEL — PROMISES TO ASSIST THEM IN THIS IMPORTANT BUSINESS — GIVES THEM 
HIS FINAL BLESSING, AND ASCENDS INTO HEAVEN — COMPARISON BETWEEN 
MOSES, THE GREAT LAWGIVER, AND OUR BLESSED SAVIOUR— GENERAL REVIEW 
OP THE LIFE AND DOCTRINES OF THE GREAT REDEEMER OF MANKIKD. 

A fe w days before the feast of Pentecost, or the feast of weeks, the 
disciples went up to Jerusalem, where the blessed Jesus made his last 
appearance to them ; and after instructing them in many particulars 
concerning the kingdom of God, and the manner they were to behave 
themselves in propagating the doctrine of the gospel, he put them in 
mind that, during his abode with them in Galilee, he had often told 
them, that all things written in the law, the prophets, and the Psalms 
concerning him were to be exactly accomplished. At the same time, 
" he opened their understandings by divine illumination he removed 
their prejudices by the operation of his Spirit, cleared their doubts, 
improved their memories, strengthened their judgments, and enabled 
them to discern the true meaning of the scriptures. 

Having thus qualified them for receiving the truth, he again as- 
sured them that both Moses and the prophets had foretold that the 
Messiah was to suffer in the very manner he had suffered ; that he 
was to rise fr@m the dead on the third day as he had done, and that 
repentance and remission of sins were to be preached in the Messiah's 
name among all nations, beginning with the Jews in Jerusalem. 

He next delivered unto them their commission to preach the doc- 
trine of repentance and remission of sins, in his name, among all 
nations, and to testify unto the world the exact accomplishment in 
him of all things foretold concerning the Messiah ; and to enable 
them to perform this important work, promised to bestow on them 
the gift of the Holy Spirit, which he called the promise of his Father, 
because the Almighty had promised them by his prophets. 

Having thus strengthened them for the important work they were 
going to undertake, he led them on to the Mount of Olives, as far as 
Bethany ; where, standing on a hill above the town, he told them 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



407 



that he was going to ascend to his father ; for which reason they 
might go courageously through all the world, and preach the gospel 
to every rational creature ; that they who believed should be admitted 
into his church by the rite of baptism, in the name of the Father, the 
Son, and the Holy Ghost, and be taught, in consequence of their 
baptism, to obey all the precepts he had enjoined them : that such 
baptized believers should receive the pardun of their sins, together 
with eternal life in the happy mansions of his Father's kingdom. 
But such as refused to embrace the doctrines of the gospel, should be 
forever excluded those happy regions, and have their portion in the 
lake that burnetii with fire and brimstone. That while they were 
employed in this work, he would be constantly with them to assist 
them by his Spirit, and to protect them by his providence. Finally, that 
those who should, through their preaching, be induced to believe, should 
themselves work most astonishing miracles, by which the gospel 
should be propagated with the greatest rapidity. 

When the blessed Jesus had spoken these things, he lifted up his 
hands and blessed them. And in the action of blessing them, he was 
parted from them in the midst of the day, a shining cloud receiving 
him out of their sight ; that is, this brilliant cloud encompassed him 
about and carried him up to heaven, not suddenly, but at leisure, that 
they might behold him departing, and see the proof of his ascending 
into heaven, as he had promised them. 

The cloud in which the blessed Jesus ascended, was more bright 
and pure than the clearest lambent flame, being, as is supposed, no 
other than the Shechinah, or glory of the Lord ! the visible symbol 
of the Divine presence, which had so often appeared to the patriarchs 
of old ; which filled the temple at its dedication, and which, in its 
greatest splendor, cannot be beheld with mortal eyes ; for which 
reason it is called the light inaccessible. 

As he ascended, the flaming cloud that surrounded him marked his 
passage through the air, but gradually lost its magnitude in the eyes 
of those who stood below, till at last it vanished, together with their 
beloved Master, out of their sight. 

In this illustrious manner did the great Redeemer of mankind de- 
part, after having finished the grand work which he left the bosom 
of his Father to execute; which angels with joy descried was to 
happen, and which, through eternity to come, shall, at periods the 
most immensely distant from the time of its execution, be looked back 
upon with inexpressible delight by every inhabitant of heaven ; for 



408 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



though the minute affairs of time may vanish altogether and be lost, 
when they are removed far back by the endless progression of dura- 
tion, this object is such that no distance, however great, can lessen. 
The kingdom of heaven is erected on the incarnation and sufferings 
of the Son of God, the kingdom and city of the Almighty compre- 
hending all the people of God in the universe, made happy by good- 
ness and love, and therefore none of them can ever forget the founda- 
tion on which their happiness stands established. The human beings 
in particular, recovered by the labor of the Son of God, will view 
their deliverer, and look back on his stupendous undertaking with 
the highest rapture, while they are feasting without interruption on 
its delicious fruits. The angels likewise, the celestial inhabitants of 
the city of God, will contemplate it with perpetual pleasure, as the 
happy means of recovering their kindred that were lost; and possibly 
the grand confirmation of the whole rational system, in their subjec- 
tion to him who reigneth forever, and whose favor is better than life 
itself. 

Thus have Ave followed our dear Redeemer through all the trans- 
actions of his life, and enlarged on the stupendous miracle of his 
(resurrection, on which glorious event the whole Christian doctrine is 
founded. 

We shall conclude this chapter with a few observations on the 
general conduct of our blessed Redeemer, during his abode with men 
on earth. 

The human character of the blessed Jesus, as it results from the 
accounts given of him by the evangelists, for they have not formally 
drawn it up, is entirely different from that of all other men whatso- 
ever ; for, whereas they have selfish passions deeply rooted in their 
breasts, and are influenced by them in almost everything they do, 
Jesus was so entirely free from them, that the most severe scrutiny 
cannot furnish one single action in the whole course of his life wherein 
he consulted his own interest only. No, he was influenced by very 
different motives: the present happiness and eternal welfare of sinners 
regulated his conduct; and while others followed their respective oc- 
cupations, Jesus had no other business than that of doing the will of 
his Father, and promoting the happiness of the sons of men. Nor 
did he wait till he was solicited to extend his benevolent hand to the 
distressed. He went about doing good, and always accounted it more 
blessed to give than to receive ; resembling God rather than man. 
He went about doing good : benevolence was the very life of his soul; 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



409 



he not only did good to objects presented to him for relief, but he in- 
dustriously sought them out, in order to extend his compassionate 
assistance. It is common for persons of the most exalted faculties to 
be elated with success and applause, or dejected by censure and dis- 
appointments ; but the blessed Jesus was never elated by the one, nor 
depressed by the other. He was never more courageous than when 
he met with the greatest opposition and cruel treatment ; nor more 
humble than when the sons of men worshipped at his feet. He came * 
into the world inspired with the grandest purpose that ever was formed, 
that of saving from eternal perdition, not a single nation, but the 
whole world; and in the execution of it went through the longest and 
heaviest train of labors that ever was sustained, with a constancy and 
resolution on which no disadvantageous impression could be made by 
any accident whatever. Calumny, threatenings, bad success, with 
many other evils constantly attending him, served only to quicken 
his endeavors in this glorious enterprise, which he unceasingly pur- 
sued, even till he finished it by his death. 

The generality of mankind are prone to retaliate injuries received, 
and all seem to take a satisfaction in complaining of the cruelties of 
those who oppress them ; whereas the whole of Christ's labors 
breathed nothing but meekness, patience, and forgiveness, even to his 
bitterest enemies, and in the midst of the most excruciating torments. 
The words, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," 
uttered by him when his enemies were nailing him to the cross, fitly 
express the temper which he maintained through the whole course of 
his life, even when assaulted by the heaviest provocations. He was 
destined to sufferings here below, in order that he might raise his 
people to honor, glory, and immortality in the realms of bliss above, 
and therefore patiently, yea, joyfully, submit to all that the malice of 
earth and hell could inflict. He was vilified that we might be hon- 
ored, he died that we might live for ever and ever. 

To conclude. The greatest and best men have discovered the de- 
generacy and corruption of human nature, and shown them to have 
been nothing more than men : but it was otherwise with Jesus. He 
was superior to all the men that ever lived, both with regard to the 
purity of his manners and the perfection of his virtues. He was holy, 
harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. 

Whether we consider him as a teacher, or as a man, " he did no 
sin ; neither was guile found in his mouth." His whole life was per- 
fectly free from spot or weakness ; at the same time it was remarkable 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



411 



for the greatest and most extensive exercises of purity and goodness. 
But never to have committed the least sin in word or in deed, never 
to have uttered any sentiment that could be censured, upon the vari- 
ous topics of religion and morality which were the daily subjects of 
his discourses, and that through the course of a life filled with action, 
and led under the observation of many enemies, who had always ac- 
cess to converse with him, and who often came to find fault, is a pitch 
of perfection evidently above the reach of human nature ; and conse- 
quently he who possessed it must have been divine. 

Such was the person who is the subject of the evangelical history. 
If the reader, by reviewing his life, doctrine, and miracles, as they are 
here represented to him, united in one series, has a clearer idea of 
these things than before, or observes a beauty in his actions thus 
linked together, which, taken separately, do not appear so fully ; — if 
he feels himself touched by the character of Jesus in general, or with 
any of his sermons and actions in particular, thus simply delineated 
in writing, whose principal charms are the beauties of truth above 
all, if his dying so generously for men, strikes him with admiration, 
or fills him with hope in the prospect of that pardon which is thereby 
purchased for the world, let him seriously consider with himself what 
improvement he ought to make of the Divine goodness. 

Jesus, by his death, hath set open the gates of immortality to the 
sons of men ; and, by his word, Spirit, and example, graciously offers 
to make them meet for the glorious rewards in the kingdom of the 
heavenly Canaan, and to conduct them into the inheritance of the 
saints in light. Let us, therefore, remember, that being born under 
the dispensation of his gospel, we have, from our earliest years, 
enjoyed the best means of securing to ourselves an interest in that 
favor of God which is life, and that loving kindness which is better 
than life. 

We have been called to aspire after an exaltation to the nature and 
felicity of the Almighty, exhibited to mortal eyes in the man Christ 
Jesus, to fire us with the noblest ambition. His gospel teaches us 
that we are made for eternity, and that our present life is to our future 
existence as infancy is to manhood. But, as in the former, many 
things are to be learned, many hardships to be endured, many habits 
to be acquired, and that by a course of exercises, which, in themselves, 
though painful and possibly useless to the child, yet are necessary to 
fit him for the business and enjoyments of manhood. 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XLV. 

REMARKS ON THE PECULIAR NATURE OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, THE PRINCI- 
PLES IT INCULCATES, AND ITS FITNESS TO RENDER MEN HOLY AND HUMBLE 
HERE, AND HAPPILY GLORIFIED HEREAFTER. 

We cannot close this delightful scene of the life of our clear Lord 
and Saviour more comfortably than by considering the benefits result- 
ing from a due attendance of his doctrines, by all who shall by faith 
receive and embrace the same. 

Probably none have been greater enemies to the progress of religion 
than those who delineate it in a gloomy and terrifying form ; nor any 
guilty of a more injurious calumny against the gospel, than those 
who represent its precepts as rigorous impositions and unnecessary 
restraints. 

True religion is the perfection of human nature, and the foundation 
of uniform exalted pleasure: of public order and private happiness. 
Christianity is the most excellent and the most useful institution, 
having the " promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to 
come." It is the voice of reason ; it is also the language of scripture ; 
the ways of wisdom " are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are 
peace and our blessed Saviour himself assures us that his precepts 
are easy, and the burden of his religion light. 

The Christian religion is a rational service, a worship in spirit and 
in truth, a worship worthy of the majesty of the Almighty to receive 
and of the nature of man to pay. It comprehends all we ought to 
believe, and all we ought to practise ; its positive rites are but few, of 
plain and easy significancy, and manifestly adapted to establish a sense 
of our obligation to God. The gospel places religion not in abstruse 
speculation and metaphysical subtleties : not in outward show and 
tedious ceremony; not in superstitious austerities and enthusiastic 
visions, but in purity of heart, and holiness of life. 

The sum of our duty, according to our great Master himself, con- 
sists in the love of God and of our neighbor ; according to St. Paul, 
in denying ungodliness and worldly lusts ; and in living soberly, 
righteously, and godly in this present evil world ; according to St. 
James, in visiting the fatherless and widows in affliction, and in keep- 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



413 



ing ourselves unspotted from the world. This is the constant strain 
and tenor of the gospel. This it inculcates most earnestly, and on 
this it lays the greatest stress. 

But is the Christian system only a republication of the law of na- 
ture, or merely a refined system of morality ? No, certainly ; it is a 
great deal more. It is an act of grace, a stupendous plan of 
Providence, designed for the recovery of mankind from a state of 
degradation and ruin to the favor and approbation of the Almighty, 
and to the hopes of a happy immortality through a Mediator. 

Under this dispensation, true religion consists in a repentance to^ 
wards God, and in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the person 
appointed by the supreme authority of heaven and earth to reconcile 
apostate man to his offended Creator ; as a sacrifice for sin ; our vital 
head, and governing Lord. This is religion, as we are Christians. 
And what hardship, what exaction is there in all this ? Surely none. 
Nay, the practice of religion is much easier than the servitude of sin. 

Our rational powers, all will readily agree, are dreadfully impaired, 
and the soul weakened by sin. The animal passions are strong and 
corrupt, and oppose the dictates of the Spirit of God : objects of sense 
make powerful impressions on the mind. We are, in every situation, 
surrounded with many snares and temptations. In such a disordered 
state of things, we cannot please God, till created anew in Christ 
Jesus unto good works. We must be born again ; born from above. 

The God of all grace has planted in the human breast a quick sense 
of good and evil ; a faculty which strongly dictates right and wrong ; 
and though, by the strength of appetite and warmth of passion, men 
are often hurried into immoral practices, yet in the beginning, especi- 
ally when there has been the advantage of a good education, it is usually 
with reluctance and opposition of mind. What inward struggles pre- 
cede ! What bitter pangs attend their sinful excesses ! What guilty 
blushes and uneasy fears ! What frightful prospects and pale reviews ! 
Terrors are upon them, and a fire not blown consumeth them. To 
make a mock at sin, and to commit iniquity without remorse, is, in 
some instances, an attainment that requires length of time and much 
painful labor, more labor than is requisite to attain that salvation 
which is the glory of the man, the ornament of the Christian, and the 
chief of his happiness. 

The soul can no more be reconciled to acts of wickedness and 
injustice than the body to excess, but by suffering many bitter pains 
and cruel attacks. 



414 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



The mouth of conscience may indeed be stopped for a while hy 
false principles ; its secret whispers may be drowned by the noise of 
company, and stifled by the entertainments of sense ; but this principle 
of conscience is so deeply rooted in human nature, and, at the same 
time, her voice is so clear and strong, that the sinner's arts will be 
unable to lull her into a lasting security.. 

When the hour of calamity arrives, when sickness seizes and death 
approaches the sinner, conscience then constrains him to listen to her 
accusations, and will not suffer the temples of his head to take any 
rest, " there is no peace to the wicked." The foundations of peace 
are subverted, they are at utter enmity with their reason, with their 
conscience, and with their God. 

Not so is the case of true religion. For when religion, pure and 
genuine, forms the tempers, and governs the life, conscience applauds, 
and peace takes her residence in the breast. The soul is in its proper 
state. There is order and regularity both in the faculties and actions. 

Conscious of its own integrity, and secure of the divine approbation, 
the soul enjoys a calmness not to be described. But why do I call 
this happy frame calmness only ? It is far more than mere calmness. 
The air may be calm, and the day overcast with thick mists and dark 
clouds. The pious and virtuous mind resembles a serene day, en- 
lightened and enlivened with the brightest rays of the sun. Though 
all without may be clouds and darkness, there is light in the heart of 
a devout man. "He is satisfied with favor, and is filled with peace 
and joy in believing." In the concluding scene, the awful moment 
of dissolution, all is peaceful and serene. The immortal part quits its 
tenement of clay with the well-grounded hopes of ascending to happi- 
ness and glory. 

Nor does the gospel enjoin any duty but what is fit and reasonable. 
It calls upon all its professors to practise reverence, submission, love 
and gratitude to God; justice, truth, and universal benevolence to 
men ; and to maintain the government of our minds. And what has 
any one to object against this? From the least to the greatest com- 
mandment of our dear Redeemer, there is not one which impartial 
reason can find fault with. " His law is perfect ; his precepts are true, 
and righteous altogether." Not even those excepted which require us 
to love our enemies, to deny ourselves, and to take up our cross. To 
forgive an injury is more generous and manly than to revenge it ; to 
control a licentious appetite than to indulge it; to suffer poverty, re- 
proach, and even death itself, in the sacred cause of truth and integ- 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



415 



rity, is much wiser and better, than, by base compliances, to make 
" shipwreck of faith and a good conscience." 

Thus in a storm at sea, or a conflagration on the land, a man with 
pleasure abandons his lumber to secure his jewels. Piety and virtue 
are the wisest and most reasonable things in the world ; vice and 
wickedness the most irrational and absurd. 

The all-wise Author of our being hath so framed our natures, and 
placed us in such relations, that there is nothing vicious but what is 
injurious; nothing virtuous but what is advantageous to our present 
interest, both with respect to body and mind. Meekness and humil- 
ity, patience, universal charity, and grace give a joy unknown to 
transgressors. 

The divine virtues of equity and love, are the only bands of friend- 
ship, the only supports of society. Temperance and sobriety are the 
best preservatives of health and strength ; but sin and debauchery im- 
pair the body, consume the substance, reduce to \ overty, and form 
the direct path to an immature and untimely death. Now this is the 
chief excellency of all laws, and what will always render their burden 
pleasant and delightful, is, that they enjoin nothing unbecoming or 
injurious. 

Besides, to render our duty easy, we have the example, as well as 
the commands of the blessed Jesus. The masters of morality among 
the heathen gave excellent rules for tke regulation of men's manners ; 
but they wanted either the honesty or the courage to try their own 
arguments upon themselves. It was a strong presumption that the 
yoke of the Scribes and Pharisees was grievous, when they laid heavy 
burdens upon men's shoulders, which they themselves refused to touch 
with one of their fingers. Not thus our great lawgiver, J esus Christ 
the righteous. His behavior was, in all respects, conformable to his 
doctrine. His devotion how sublime and ardent ! his benevolence 
towards men, how great and diffusive ! He was, in his life, an exact 
pattern of innocence, for he " did no sin ; neither was guile found in 
his mouth." In the Son of God incarnate is exhibited the brightest, 
the fairest resemblance of the Father that earth or heaven ever beheld, 
an example peculiarly persuasive, calculated to inspire resolution, and 
to animate us to use our utmost endeavors to imitate the divine 
pattern, the example of " the author and finisher of our faith, of him 
who loved us, and gave himself for us." Our profession and charac- 
ter as Christians oblige us to make his example the model of our lives. 
Every motive of decency, gratitude, and interest constrain us to tread 
the paths he trod before us. 



416 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



We should also remember that our burden is easy ; because Godj 
who " knoweth whereof we are made, who considereth that we are 
but dust/' is ever ready to assist us. The heathen sages themselves 
had some notions of this assistance, though guided only by the glim- 
mering lamp of reason. But what they looked upon as probable, 
the gospel clearly and strongly asserts. We there hear the apostle 
exhorting, " Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may 
obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." We there 
hear the blessed Jesus himself arguing in this convincing manner : 
" If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, 
how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to 
them that ask him?" 

I would not here be understood to mean that the agency of the 
Spirit is irresistible, and lays a necessitating bias on all the faculties 
and affections of men. Where this is the case, precepts and pro- 
hibitions, promises and threatening^, would signify nothing, and duty 
and obligation would be words without a meaning. The Spirit 
assisteth in a manner agreeable to the frame of human nature, not 
controlling the free use of reason; but by assisting the understand- 
ing, influencing the will, and renewing the affections. But though 
we may not be able to explain the mode of his operations, the Scrip- 
tures warrant us to assert, that when men are renewed and prepared 
for heaven, it is through sanctifipation of the Spirit and belief of the 
truth. How enlivening the thought! how encouraging the motivo ! 
We are not left to struggle alone with the difficulties which attend 
the practice of religion in the present imperfect state. The merciful 
Father of our spirits is ever near to help our infirmities, to enlighten 
the understanding, to strengthen good resolutions, and, in concur- 
rence with our own endeavors, to make us conquerors over all oppo- 
sition. Faithful is he to his promises, and will not suffer the sincere 
and faithful to be tempted above what they are able to bear. What 
can be desired more than this ? To promote the happiness of his 
people, everything is done that is requisite, his grace is all-sufficient,, 
his Spirit is able to conduct us through this vale of tears to never- 
fading bliss. 

We should also remember that the great doctrine of the gospel con- 
cerning the infinite mercy of God to all penitents, through Christ 
Jesus, greatly contributes to the consolation of Christians. Let it be 
granted that the hope of pardon is essential to the religion of fallen 
creatures, and one of its first principles ; yet, considering the doubts 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



417 



and suspicions which are apt to arise in a mind conscious of guilt, it 
is undoubtedly a great, an inestimable favor, to be relieved in this 
respect by a messenger from Omnipotence himself. This is our hap- 
piness. We are not left to depend upon consequential reasonings, 
which the bulk of mankind are little used to ; but we are assured, 
that, upon our true repentance and believing in Christ, we shall, 
through his mediation, receive the full remission of past sins, and be 
restored to the same state of favor with our Maker as if we had never 
transgressed his laws. Here the gospel triumphs. With these as- 
surances it abounds. Upon this head the declarations of our blessed 
Saviour and his apostles are so express and full, that every one who 
believes them, and knows himself to be a true penitent, ought to 
banish every doubt and fear, and rejoice with joy unspeakable. 
"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will 
give you rest." Matt. xi. 23. " All manner of sin and blasphemy 
shall be forgiven unto men/' Matt. xii. 31. " Be it known unto yo*u 
therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto 
you the forgiveness of sins: and by him all that believe are justified 
from all tilings, from which ye could not be justified by the law of 
Moses." Acts xiii. 38, 39. "The blood of Jesus cleanseth from all 
sin." John i. 17. What grace and favor is this! Who can dwell 
upon the transporting theme too long ! Xow our way is plain before 
us, and the burden we are to bear is made easy. Our sins are par- 
donable if repented of and forsaken. 

Consider this, all ye w r ho have never yet regarded religion, but 
pursued a course of vice and sensuality all your lives long. Though 
your conduct has been base to the last degree, your case is not des- 
perate — far from it. The God whom you have so highly offended 
commiserates your errors, is ever ready to extend his pardoning mercy 
to his most degenerate creatures upon their faith and repentance, and 
"is in Christ Jesus reconciling the world to himself, not imputing 
unto penitent sinners their trespasses." 2 Cor. v. 10. "Let the 
wicked therefore forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his 
thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord," who will so liberally 
extend his mercy to him, "and to our God, who will thus abundantly 
pardon." Isaiah Iv. 7. 

Another particular which renders the Christian religion delightful, 
is its leading us to the perfect eternal life of heaven. It cannot be 
denied but that we may draw from the light of reason strong pre- 
sumptions of a future state. The present existence does not look like 
27 



418 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



an entire scene, but rather like the infancy of human nature, which is 
capable of arriving at a much higher degree of maturity; but what- 
ever solid foundation the doctrine of a future state may have in nature 
and reason, certain it is, through the habitual neglect of reflection, and 
the force of irregular passions, this doctrine was, before the coming of 
our blessed Saviour, very much disfigured, and in a great measure 
lost among the sons of men. 

In the heathen world a future state of rewards and punishments 
was a matter of mere speculation and uncertainty, sometimes hoped 
for, sometimes doubted of, and sometimes absolutely denied. The law 
of Moses, though of divine original, is chiefly enforced by promises of 
temporal blessings; and even in the writings of the prophets a future 
immortality is very sparingly mentioned, and obscurely represented ; 
but the doctrine of our Saviour hath brought life and immortality to 
light. In the gospel we have a distinct account of another world, at- 
tended with many engaging circumstances, about which the decisions 
of reason were dark and confused. We have the testimony of the 
Author of our religion, who was raised from the dead, and who after- 
wards, in the presence of his disciples; ascended into heaven. In the 
New Testament it is expressly declared that good men, when absent 
from the body, are present with the Lord. Here we are assured of 
the resurrection of the body in a glorious form, clothed with immortal 
vigor, suited to the active nature of the animating spirit, and assisting 
its most enlarged operations and incessant progress towards perfection. 
Here we are assured that the righteous shall go into life everlasting ; 
that they shall enter into the kingdom of the heavenly Canaan, where 
no ignorance shall cloud the understanding, no vice disturb the will. 
In these regions of perfection nothing but love shall possess the soul, 
nothing but gratitude employ the tongue, there the righteous shall be 
united to an innumerable company of angels, and to the general 
assembly and church of the first-born. There they shall see their 
exalted Redeemer at the right hand of Omnipotence, and sit down with 
him on his throne ; there they shall be admitted into the immediate 
presence of the supreme Fountain of life and happiness, and beholding 
his face, be farther changed into the same image, from glory to glory. 
Here language, here imagination fails me ! It requires the genius, the 
knowledge, and the pen of an angel to paint the happiness, the blissful 
scene of the Xew Jerusalem, which human eyes cannot behold till this 
mortal body shall be purified from its corruption, and dressed in the 
robes of iminortalit} 7 . " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither 



THE LIFE OP CHRIST 



419 



hath it entered into the heart to conceive the joys which God hath 
prepared for them that love him." 

What is the heaven of the heathen compared with the heaven of the 
Christians? The hope, the prospect of this is sufficient to reconcile 
us to all the difficulties that may attend our progress, sweeten all our 
labors, alleviate every grief, and silence every murmur. 

But why, says the libertine, in the gayety of his heart, should there 
be any difficulties or restraint at all? God hath made nothing in 
vain. The appetites he hath planted in the human breast are to be 
gratified. To deny or restrain them is ignominious bondage; but to 
give full scope to every desire and passion of the heart, without check 
or control, is true manly freedom. 

In opposition to this loose and careless way of reasoning, let it be 
considered, that the liberty of a rational creature doth not consist in 
an entire exemption from all control, but in following the dictates of 
reason as the governing principle, and in keeping the various passions^ 
in due subordination. To follow the regular motion of those affec- 
tions which the wise Creator hath implanted within us is our duty ; 
but as our natural desires in this state of trial are too often irregular, 
we are bound to restrain their excesses, and not to indulge them, but . 
in a strict subserviency to the integrity and peace of our minds, and* 
to the order and happiness of human society established in the world. 
Those who allow the supreme command to be usurped by sensual and : 
brutal appetites may promise themselves liberty, but are truly and ab- 
solutely the servants of corruption. To be vicious is to be enslaved, . 
We behold with pity those miserable objects that are chained in the- 
galleys, or confined in dark prisons and loathsome dungeons ; but much 
more abject and vile is the slavery of the sinner! No slavery of the 
body is equal to the bondage of the mind : no chains press so closelyr 
or gall so cruelly as the fetters of sin, which corrode the very sub- 
stance of the soul, and fret every faculty. 

It must, indeed, be confessed that there are some profligates so har- 
dened by custom as to be past all feeling; and, because insensible off 
their bondage, boast of this insensibility as a mark of their native 
freedom and of their happiness. Vain men ! they might extol with 
equal propriety the peculiar happiness of an apoplexy, or the profound 
tranquillity of a lethargy. 

Thus have I endeavored to place, in a plain and conspicuous light; . 
some of the peculiar excellencies of the Christian religion ; and from 
hence many useful reflections will naturally arise in the mind of every 



420 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



attentive reader. It is the religion of Jesus that hath removed idol- 
atry and superstition, and brought immortality to light, when con- 
cealed under the veil of darkness almost impenetrable. This hath 
set the great truths of religion in a clear and conspicuous point of 
view, and proposed new and powerful motives to influence our minds 
and to determine our conduct. Nothing is enjoined to be believed 
but what is worthy of God, nothing to be practiced but what is 
friendly to man. All the doctrines of the gospel are rational and 
consistent : all its precepts are truly Avise, just, and good. The gospel 
contains nothing grievous to an ingenuous mind : it debars us from 
nothing but doing harm to ourselves or to our fellow-creatures ; and 
permits us to range anyAvhere but in the paths of danger and destruc- 
tion. It only requires us to accept the remedy provided, to act up to 
its excellent commands, and to prefer to the vanishing pleasure of sin, 
the smiles of a reconciled God and an eternal Aveight of glory. And 
is this a rigorous exaction, a heavy burden, not to be endured ? How 
can sinful mortals harbor so unworthy a thought ? 

Surely no man who is a real friend to the cause of religion and to 
the interest of mankind can ever be an enemy to Christianity, if he 
truly understands it, and seriously reflects on its Avise and useful ten- 
dency. It conducteth us to our journey's end by the plainest and 
securest path ; where the "steps are not straitened, and Avhere he that 
runneth stumbleth not." Let us, Avho liVe under this last and most 
gracious dispensation of God to mankind, "count all things but loss 
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord and 
not suffer ourselves, by the slight cavils of unbelievers, to be "moved 
away from the hope of the gospel." Let us demonstrate that we 
believe the superior excellency of the Christian dispensation, by de- 
pending on Christ, and conforming to his precepts. Let us show 
that Ave are Christians in deed and in truth ; not by endless disputes 
about trifles, and the transports of a blind zeal, but by abounding in 
those "fruits of righteousness which are through Christ to the praise 
and glory of God." 

From what has been said, Ave may clearly perceive how groundless 
all those prejudices are which some conceive against religion, as if it 
Avere a peevish, morose scheme, burdensome to human nature, and in- 
consistent Avith the true enjoyment of life. Such sentiments are too 
apt to prevail in the heat of youth, when the spirits are brisk and 
lively, and the passions Avarm and impetuous; but it is Avholly a mis- 
take, and a mistake of the most dangerous tendency. The truth is, 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



421 



there is no pleasure like that of a good conscience, no real peace but 
what results from a sense of the Divine favor. This strengthens the 
mind, and can alone support it under all the various and unequal 
scenes of the present state of trial. This lays a sure foundation of an 
easy, comfortable life, of a serene, peaceful death, and of eternal joys 
and happiness hereafter; whereas, vice is ruinous to all our most 
valuable interests; spoils the native beauty and subverts the order 
of the soul ; renders us the scorn of man, the rejected of God, and, 
without timely repentance, will rob us of a happy eternity. Religion 
is the health, the liberty, and the happiness of the soul. Sin is the 
disease, the servitude, and the destruction of it. 

If this be not sufficient to convince you, let me lead you into the 
chamber of an habitual rioter, the lewd debauchee, worn out in 
the cause of iniquity, his bones full of the sin of his youth, that 
from his own mouth, as he lies on his expiring bed, you may learn 
that the way of transgression is hard ; and that however sweet sin 
may be in the commission, it strikes like a serpent, and bites like an 
adder. 

I am going, reader, to represent to you the last moments of a per- 
son of high birth and spirit ; of great parts and strong passions ; every 
way accomplished, but unhappily attached to those paths which lead 
to vice and destruction. 

His unkind treatment was the death of a most amiable wife; and 
his monstrous extravagance, in effect, disinherited his only child. 
And surely the death-bed of a profligate is next in horror to that 
abyss to which it leads. It has the most of hell that is visible upon 
earth, and he that has seen it has more than faith to confirm him in 
his creed. I see now, says the worthy divine from whom I shall bor- 
row this relation; for who can forget it? Are there in it no flames 
and furies ? You are ignorant then of what a sacred imagination can 
figure ; what a guilty heart can feel ! How dismal is it ! The two 
great enemies of soul and body, sickness and sin, sink and confound 
his friends ; silence and darkness are the dismal scene. Sickness ex- 
cludes the light of heaven, and sin its blessed hope. Oh, double 
darkness! more than Egyptian ! acutely to be felt ! 

The sad evening before the death of that noble youth, whose last 
hours suggested these thoughts, I was with him. No one was there 
but his physician and an intimate acquaintance whom he loved, and 
whom he had ruined. At mv coming, he said: 

" You and the physician are come too late. I have neither life nor 
hope. You both aim at miracles. Yon would raise the dead." 



422 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



Heaven, I said, was merciful. 

"Or 1 could not (he replied) have been thus guilty. What has it 
not done to bless and to save me? I have been too strong for 
Omnipotence. I plucked down ruin." 

I said, The blessed Redeemer — 

" Hold ! hold ! (said he,) you wound me ! This is the rock on 
which I have split ! I denied his name." 

Refusing to hear anything from me, or take anything from the 
physician, he lay silent, as far as sudden darts of pain would permit, 
till the clock struck. Then he cried out with vehemence, " Oh, time! 
time ! It is fit thou shouldst thus strike thy murderer to the heart. 
How art thou fled for ever ! A month ! Oh, for a single week ! I 
ask not for years, though an age were too little for the much I have 
to do." 

On my saying to him, we could not do too much ; that heaven was 
a blessed place ; " So much the worse (replied he) : 'tis lost ! 'tis lost ! 
Heaven is to me the severest part of hell \" 

Soon after I proposed prayer, to which he answered, saying, " Pray 
you that can ; I never prayed ; I cannot pray : my conscience is too 
much wounded. I have deserted my benevolent Maker, and my soul 
is enveloped in the deepest horrors." 

His friend being much touched, even to tears, at this, (for who could 
forbear? I could not,) with a most affectionate look, said: 

"Keep these tears for thyself! I have undone thee. Dost thou 
weep for me ? That's cruel. What can pain me more ?" 

Here his friend, too much affected, would have left him. 

" No, (said he,) stay. Thou still mayst hope : therefore hear me. 
How madly have I talked ! How madly hast thou listened and be- 
lieved ! But look on my present state as a full answer to thee and 
to myself. This body is all weakness and pain ; but my soul, as if 
strung up by torment to greater strength and spirit, is full powerful 
to reason; full mighty to suffer; and that which thus triumphs within 
the jaws of mortality, is doubtless immortal. And as for a Deity, 
nothing less than an Almighty could inflict the pains I feel." 

I was about to congratulate this passive, involuntary confession, in 
his asserting the two prime articles of his creed, extorted by the rack 
of nature ; when he thus very passionately added : 

" No, no ! let me speak on. I have not long to speak. My much- 
injured friend ! my soul, as my body, lies in ruins, in scattered frag- 
ments of broken thought. Remorse for the past throws my thoughts 




THE UPWARD LOOK OF FAITH. 



424 



THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 



on the future. Worse dread of the future strikes it back on the past. 
I turn, and turn, and find no ray. Didst thou feel half the mountain 
that is on me, thou wouldst struggle with the martyr for his stake, 
and bless heaven for the flame, that is not an everlasting flame, that 
is not an unquenchable fire." 

How were we struck ! yet, soon after, still more. With what an 
eye of distraction, what a face of despair, he cried out, u My principles 
have poisoned my friend; my extravagance has beggared my boy; 
my unkindness has murdered my wife! And is there another hell? 
Oh, thou blasphemed, yet most indulgent Lord God ! Hell itself is 
a refuge, if it hides me from thy frown." 

Soon after, his understanding failed ; his terrified imagination ut- 
tered horrors not to be repeated, or ever forgotten ; and before the 
sun (which I hope lias seen few like him) arose, this gay, young, 
noble, ingenious, accomplished, and most wretched mortal expired. 

It must, indeed, be owned, it sometimes happens that men who have 
led very wicked lives, have gone out of the world as they have lived 
in it, defying conscience, and deriding a future judgment as an idle 
fiction ; but these instances are very rare, and only prove that there 
are monsters in the moral as well as in the natural world. 

It will, perhaps, be said, that the sons of vice and riot have pleasure 
in sensual indulgences. Allowed : but it is altogether of the lowest 
kind, empty, fleeting, and transient ; " Like the crackling of thorns 
under a pot, so is the mirth of the wicked." It makes a noise and a 
blaze for the present ; but soon vanishes away in smoke and vapor. 

On the other hand, the pleasure of religion is solid and lasting, and 
vill attend us through all, even the last stages of life. AVhen we 
have passed the levity of youth, and have lost our relish for the gay 
uitertainments of sense ; when old age steals upon us, and stoops us 
towards the grave, this will cleave fast to us, and give us relief. It 
will be so far from terminating at death, that it then commences per- 
fect, and continually improves with new additions. 

Clad in this immortal robe, we need not fear the awful summons 
• >f the king of terrors, nor regret our retiring into the chambers of 
the dust. Our immortal part will wing its way to the arms of its 
Omnipotent Redeemer, and find rest in the heavenly mansions of the 
Almighty. And though our earthly part, this tabernacle of clay, 
return to its original dust, and is dissolved, our joy, our consolation, 
our confidence is, that " AYe have a building of God, a house not 
made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 



THE 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 

AND 

HOLY WOMEN. 



ST. PETER. 

St. Peter was bora at Bethsaida, a city of Galilee, situate on 
the banks of the Lake of Genesareth, called also the Sea of Galilee, 
from its being situated in that country ; and the Lake of Tiberias, 
from that city being built on its banks. But the particular time of 
this great apostle's birth cannot be known ; the evangelists, and other 
writers among the primitive Christians, having been silent with re- 
gard to this particular. It is, however, pretty certain, that he wa. 
at least ten years older than his Master ; the circumstances of his 
being married, and in a settled course of life, when he first became a 
follower of the great Messiah, and that authority and respect the 
gravity of his person procured him among the rest of the apostles, 
are thought sufficiently to declare this conjecture to be very near the 
truth. 

As he was a descendant of Abraham, he was circumcised according 
to the rites of the Mosaic law, and called by his parents Simon, or 
Simeon, a name common at that time among the Jews. But after his 
becoming a disciple of the blessed Jesus, the additional title of 
Cephas was conferred upon him by his Master, to denote the firmness 
•of his faith — the word cephas, in the Syriac, the common language 
of the Jews at that time, signifying a stone, or rock ; and thence he 
is called, in Greek, Petros, and by us Peter, which implies the same 
thing. 

With regard to the parents of St. Peter, the evangelists have also 
been silent, except in telling us that his father's name was Jonas, who 
vas highly honored by our blessed Saviour, who chose two of his 

425 



426 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



sons, Andrew and Peter, to be his apostles, and preachers of the glad 
tidings of salvation to the children of men. St. Peter, in his youth, 
was brought up to the trade of fishing on the lake of Bethsaida, 
famous for different kinds of fish, which excelled all others in the 
fineness of their taste. 

Here he followed the trade of fishing, but afterwards removed to 
Capernaum, where he settled ; for Ave find he had a house there when 
our Saviour began his public ministry, and there he paid tribute 

The business of Peter was both mean and servile ; it exposed him 
to all the injuries of the weather, the tempestuousness of the sea, and 
the darkness and horror of the night, and all to acquire a mean live- 
lihood for himself and family. But meanness of worldly degree is 
no obstacle to the favor of God. Nay, if we review the state of 
Christianity, from its rise to the present period, we shall find that its 
friends and votaries consist rather of persons of humble and lowly 
stations in life, than of the great, the dignified, and the opulent. 

And herein are manifested the wise and admirable methods made 
use of by Divine Providence, in making choice of such mean and 
unlikely instruments in planting and propagating the Christian re- 
ligion in the world. Men who were destitute of ths* advantages of 
education, and brought up to the meanest employments, were chosen 
to confound the wise, and overturn the learning of the great. 

Sacred history hath not ascertained of what sect the apostle was. 
We know, indeed, that his brother Andrew was a follower of John 
the Baptist, that preacher of repentance; and it is very unlikely that 
he who was ready to carry his brother the early tidings of the Mes- 
siah, that the sun of righteouness was already risen in those parts, 
should not be equally solicitous to bring him under the discipline and 
influences of John the Baptist, the day-star which appeared to usher 
in the glorious advent of the Son of God. Besides, Peter's great 
readiness and curiosity, at the first news of Christ's appearance, to 
come to him and converse with him, shows that his expectations had 
been awakened, and some glimmering rays of hope conveyed to him 
by the preaching and ministry of John, who was the " voice of one 
crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his 
paths straight." 

He became acquainted with the immaculate Lamb of God in the 
following manner : the blessed Jesus, having spent thirty years in the 
solitudes of a private life, had lately been baptized by John in Jor- 
dan, and there owned by the solemn attestation of heaven to be the 



AND HOLY WO M E X. 



427 



Son of God ; whereupon he was immediately hurried into the wilder- 
ness, and there for forty days maintained a powerful eontest with the 
devil. But having conquered this great enemy of mankind, he re- 
turned to "Bethabara beyond Jordan/' where John was baptizing his 
proselytes, and endeavoring to answer the Jews, who had sent a depu- 
tation to him to inquire concerning this new Messiah that appeared 
among them. To satisfy these curious inquirers of Israel, John faith- 
fully related everything he knew concerning him, gave him the 
greatest character, and soon after pointed him out to his disciples ; 
upon which two of them presently followed the great Redeemer of 
mankind, one of which was Andrew, Simon's brother. 

Nor did he conceal the joyful discovery he had made ; for early in 
the morning he hastened to acquaint his brother Simon that he had 
found the Messiah. It is not enough to be happy alone ; grace is a 
communicative principle, that, like the circles in the water, delights 
to multiply itself and to diffuse its influences all around, especially on 
those whom nature has placed, nearest to us. I have, said he, with 
rapture, to his brother, found that eminent person so long and signally 
foretold by the prophets, and whom all the devout and pious among 
the sons of Jacob so earnestly expected. 

Simon, who was one of those who waited for redemption in Israel, 
ravished with this joyful news, and impatient of delay, presently 
followed his brother to the place ; and on his arrival our blessed 
Saviour immediately gave him a proof of his divinity, saluting 
him at first sight by his name, and telling him both who he was, 
his name and kindred, and what title should soon be conferred upon 
him. 

But whether these two sons of Jonas constantly attended, in person, 
from that time, on the great Redeemer of mankind, and became his 
disciples, the sacred history is silent. It is, however, probable, that 
they staid with him some time, till they were instructed in the first 
rudiments of his doctrines; and then, by the leave of their great and 
benevolent Master, returned to their families and to their callings ; 
for it is reasonable to suppose that the blessed Jesus was not at this 
time willing to Avaken the jealousy of the rulers of Israel and the 
suspicion of the Romans, by a numerous retinue, and therefore dis- 
missed his disciples, and among the rest Andrew and Peter, who re- 
turned to their trade of fishing on the lake, and where our blessed 
Redeemer afterwards found them. 

The holy Jesus had now more than a year entered on his public 



428 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



ministry, going into every part of the country, to seek opportunities 
of doing good to the children of men ; so that, by the constancy of 
his preaching and the reputation of his miracles, his fame was spread 
throughout all Judea ; and multitudes of people flocked to him 
from all parts, to hear his doctrine and be spectators of his mighty 
works. 

But, to avoid this prodigious throng of people, our great Redeemer 
often retired to some solitary place, to indulge the privacies of con- 
templation. In one of these retreats, on the banks of the sea of Gali- 
lee, the multitude found him out, and ran to him from the city. Our 
Saviour, therefore, to avoid the crowd, stepped into a fishing-boat, 
which lay near the shore and belonged to Simon Peter, who, together 
with his companions, were on the shore, drying their nets after an 
unsuccessful night spent in toil and labor. The blessed Jesus, who 
might have commanded, was pleased to entreat Peter, who now re- 
turned to his boat, to thrust off a little from the land, that he might 
instruct the people, who were gathered in prodigious crowds on the 
borders of the lake. 

Peter gladly complied with the request of his Master, who delivered 
his heavenly doctrine to the people on the shore. As soon as he had 
ended his discourse he resolved to seal his miracle, that the people 
might be persuaded he was a teacher come from God. Accordingly, 
he ordered Simon to row further from the shore, and cast his net into 
the sea. To which Simon answered, that they had labored the pre- 
ceding night, and had taken nothing, and if they could not then 
succeed, there was little hopes of it now, as the day was far less 
proper for fishing than the night. But as his Master was pleased to 
command, he would obey, and accordingly he let down his net, when, 
to the astonishment both of himself and of his companions, so great a 
multitude of fishes were enclosed, that they were obliged to call their 
partners to their assistance. Amazed at this miraculous draught of 
fishes, Simon Peter,. in an ecstasy of admiration, blended with awa 
and humility, fell prostrate at his Master's feet, acknowledging him- 
self a vile and sinful person, and thinking himself unworthy of being 
admitted into the presence, of one so immediately sent from God. 
But the compassionate Son of the Most High kindly removed his 
fears, telling him that this miracle wa& wrought to confirm Ins 
faith and indicate to him that the Almighty had appointed a 
more noble employment for him, that of saving the souls of the chil- 
dren of men. 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



420 



From this time Peter and his companions became the inseparable 
and constant disciples of the great Messiah, submitting themselves to 
the rules of his discipline, and living under his institutions. 

Soon after our blessed Saviour returned to Capernaum with his 
disciples, where they found the mother-in-law of Peter dangerously 
ill of a fever. But the compassionate Jesus, who nes T er omitted 
any opportunity of doing good to the human race, rebuked the 
disease, and, taking her by the hand, restored her in a moment to her 
former health. 

The blessed Jesus, having entered upon his important mission, 
thought proper to select some particular persons from among his fol- 
lowers to be constant witnesses of his miracles and doctrines, and who, 
after his departure, might be entrusted with the care of building his 
church, and planting that religion in the world for which he himself 
left the mansions of heaven and put on the veil of immortality. In 
order to this, he withdrew privately, in the evening, to a solitary 
mountain, where he spent the night in solemn addresses to his Al- 
mighty Father, for rendering the great work he was going to under- 
take prosperous and successful. 

Early the next morning the disciples came to him, out of whom lie 
made choice of twelve to be his apostles and the constant attendants 
on his person. These he afterwards invested with the power of 
working miracles, and sent them into different parts of Judea in order 
to carry on with more rapidity the great work which he himself had 
so happily begun. 

All the evangelists, in their enumeration of these apostles, con- 
stantly place St. Peter first. But we must not, on that account, sup- 
pose that St. Peter was invested with any personal prerogative above 
his brethren ; none of them ever intimated any such thing, and St. 
Paul says expressly, that he himself was not inferior to the very 
chiefest apostle. 

Soon after this election, the blessed Jesus, attended by Peter and 
the two sons of Zebedee, followed Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, to 
his house, in order to restore his daughter, an only child, who lay at 
the point of death ; but before their arrival a messenger arrived with 
the news that the damsel was dead, and therefore it was unnecessary 
for our Saviour to give himself any further trouble. But our blessed 
Saviour bid the ruler not despair; for if he believed, his daughter 
should yet be restored to her former health. And accordingly, on his 
arrival, he took the maid by the hand, and with the power of a word 



430 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 



recalled her fleeting spirit, which had quitted its earthly tabernacle, 
and restored her again to life and health. 

We have no further account of St. Peter in particular till the night 
after our Saviour's miraculously feeding the multitude in the wilder- 
ness. Jesus had ordered his disciples to take ship and pass over to 
the other side, while he sent the multitude away. But a violent 
storm arising, they were in great danger of their lives, when their 
great Master came unto them, walking on the surface of the boisterous 
billows, with the same ease as if it had been dry ground. 

At his approach the disciples were greatly terrified, supposing they 
had seen a spirit. But their compassionate Master soon dispelled their 
fears, by telling them it was he himself, and therefore they had no 
reason to be terrified. 

Peter, who was always remarkable for bold resolutions, desired his 
Master to give him leave to come to him on the water, and on obtain- 
ing permission he left the ship and walked on the sea to meet his 
Saviour. But when he heard the deep roar around him, and the 
waves increase, he began to be afraid, and as his faith declined his 
body sunk in the water, so that, in the greatest agony, he called for 
assistance to him who was able to save. Nor was his cry in vain ; 
the compassionate Redeemer of mankind stretched out his hand, and 
again placed him on the surface of the water, with this gentle reproof, 
" O, thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?' 7 And no sooner 
had the blessed Jesus and his disciple entered into the ship than the 
winds ceased, the waves subsided, and the ship was at the land 
whither they were going. 

A miracle of this kind could not fail of astonishing the disciples, 
and convincing them of the divinity of his mission : accordingly they 
drew near and worshipped him, with this confession : " Of a truth 
thou art the Son of God." 

The next day our blessed Saviour entered the synagogue of Caper- 
naum, and from the miracle of the loaves, took occasion to ('iscourse 
concerning himself as the true manna, and the bread which cai le down 
from heaven, opening to them the more sublime and spiritual mys- 
teries of the gospel. On which great part of the audience, who ex- 
pected he was going to erect a temporal kingdom, and re-establish the 
throne of David in Jerusalem, offended at his representing his domin- 
ion as entirely spiritual, departed from him, and came no more to 
hear his discourses. Jesus, on beholding this defection, turned him- 
self towards his disciples, and asked them whether they also would go 



432 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



away. To which Peter replied, " Lord, whither shall we go ? thob 
hast the words of eternal life." To whom should we apply for life 
and salvation ? " thou art the way, the truth, and the life." 

The inhabitants of Judea, who beheld^with astonishment the mira- 
cles wrought by the blessed Jesus, had formed many conjectures con- 
cerning him. Our great Redeemer was not ignorant of this, but 
being willing to hear what account his disciples would give of the 
various opinions of the people, 'asked them what the world said con- 
cerning him. To which they replied, that some took him for John 
the Baptist, risen from the dead ; some thought him to be Elias, and 
others Jeremiah, or one of the old prophets. He asked them what 
they themselves thought of him ; to which Peter, in the name of the 
rest, answered, " Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God," anointed 
and set apart by the Most High to be the great King, Priest, and 
Prophet of Israel. 

This full and comprehensive declaration of Peter satisfied the in- 
quiry of our blessed Saviour, who answered, " Blessed art thou, Simon 
Bar-Jonah; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but 
my Father which is in heaven." That is, this faith which thou ha'5t 
now confessed is not human, or built upon the testimony of man, but 
upon that knowledge which I was sent from God to reveal unto the 
world : therefore I say also unto thee, "that thou art Peter, and upcn 
this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not pre- 
vail against it." As thy name signifies a rock, so shalt thou prove 
firm, solid, and immovable in building my church, which shall be so 
firmly established by thy care and diligence upon that faith thou hast 
now professed, that all the assaults of men and devils shall not be 
able to destroy it. 

The disciples had no idea that their Master was to suffer death for 
the sins of the world; on the contrary, they considered him as immor- 
tal, having imbibed the opinion of the Scribes and Pharisees, that 
" Christ abideth forever ;" so that when the blessed Jesus told them 
of the sufferings he must undergo at Jerusalem, what affronts and 
indignities he must suffer, and be at last put to death, with all the 
acts of torture and disgrace, by a sentence of the Jewish Sanhedrim, 
Peter, who could not endure the thoughts of his Master's suffering 
even the least punishment, much less those cruelties he had mentioned, 
and at last death itself, interrupted him very unseasonably, and said, 
" Be it far from thee, Lord ; this shall not be unto thee." He con- 
sidered these sufferings as inconsistent with the character of the great 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



433 



Messiah, whom he expected would restore the splendor of the throne 
of David, his father, and reduce all the kingdoms of the earth to his 
obedience. But our blessed Saviour, who came down from heaven to 
give his life a ransom for the sins of the world, and who valued the 
redemption of mankind infinitely more than his own ease and safety, 
highly resented this speech of St. Peter, and accordingly returned this 
sharp reproof, " Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offence to me." 
Thy pernicious counsel, in seeking to oppose the design for which I 
purposely left the courts of heaven, is offensive ; and thou " savoures* 
not the things of God, but those that be of men." 

Some time after, the great Redeemer of the souls of men, being to 
receive a specimen of his future glorification, took with him three of 
his most intimate apostles, Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and 
went up into a very high mountain • and while they were employed 
in earnest addresses to the Almighty, he was transfigured before them, 
darting such lustre from his face, as exceeded the meridian rays of 
the sun in brightness ; and such beams of light issued from his gar- 
ments as exceeded the light of the clearest day : an event and sensible 
representation of that state when "the just shall walk in white robes, 
and shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." During this 
heavenly scene, the great prophets, Moses and Elias, appeared in all 
the brightness and majesty of a glorified state, familiarly conversing 
with him, and discoursing of the death and sufferings he was shortly 
to undergo, and his ascension to the heavenly regions of bliss and 
happiness. 

After this heavenly scene, our blessed Lord travelled through 
Galilee, and at his return to Capernaum, the tax-gatherers came to 
Peter, and asked him whether his Master was not obliged to pay 
tribute. When our blessed Saviour was informed of this demand, 
rather than give offence he wrought a miracle to pay it. Our great 
Redeemer was now going for the last time to Jerusalem, and he or- 
dered two of his disciples, probably Peter and John, to fetch him an 
ass, that he might enter into the city on it, as had been foretold. The 
disciples obeyed their Master, and brought the ass to Jesus, who 
being mounted thereon, he entered the city amidst the hosannahs of a 
numerous multitude, with palm-branches in their hands, proclaim- 
ing at once both the majesty of a prince and the triumph of a Saviour. 

The blessed Jesus proceeded from Jerusalem to Bethany, from 
whence he sent two of his disciples, Peter and John, to make prepa- 
rations for his celebrating the passover. Everything being ready, our 
28 



434 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



blessed Saviour and his apostles entered the house, and sat down to 
table. But their great Master, who often taught them by example, 
as well as precept, arose from his seat, laid aside his upper garment, 
took the towel, and, pouring water into a basin, began to wash his 
disciples' feet, to teach them humility and charity by his own ex- 
ample. But, on his coming to Peter, he would by no means admit 
his Master to perform so mean and condescending an office. What ! 
the Son of God stoop to wash the feet of a sinful mortal ! A thought 
which shocked the apostle, who strenuously declared, " Thou shalt 
never wash my feet !" But the blessed Jesus told him, that if he 
washed him not, he could have no part with him — insinuating that 
this action was mystical, and signified the remission of sins, and the 
purifying virtue of the Spirit of the Most High, to be poured upon 
all true Christians. This answer sufficiently removed the scruples of 
Peter, who cried out, " Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands 
and my head." Wash me in every part, rather than let me lose my 
portion in thee. 

The blessed Jesus having set them this pattern of humility, began to 
reflect on his approaching sufferings, and on the person who should 
betray him into the hands of wicked and cruel men, telling them that 
not a stranger or an enemy, but one of his friends, one of his apostles, 
and even one of them who then sat at table with him, would betray 
him. 

This declaration exceedingly affected them all in general, and Peter 
in particular, who made signs to St. John, to ask him particularly who 
it was. Jesus complied with this request, and gave them to under- 
stand that it was Judas Iscariot. 

Our great Kedeemer now began the institution of his supper, that 
great and solemn institution which he resolved to leave behind him, 
to be constantly celebrated in his church, as a standing monument of 
his love in dying for mankind ; telling them at the same time, that he 
himself was now going to leave them, and that " whither he went they 
could not come." Peter, not well understanding what he meant, 
asked him whither he was going; to which our great Redeemer re- 
plied, that he was going to that place whither he could not now, but 
should hereafter follow him, intimating the martyrdom he was to suf- 
fer for his Master's religion. 

Peter answered that he was ready now to follow him, even if it 
required him to lay down his life. This confident presumption was 
not at all agreeable to the blessed Jesus, who told him he had promised 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



435 



great things, but would be so far from performing them, that before 
the cock crew he would thrice deny his Master. 

Supper being now ended, they sung a hymn, and departed to the 
Mount of Olives, where Jesus again put them in mind how greatly 
the things he was going to suffer would offend them. To which Peter 
replied, that though all men should be offended, because of him, yet 
he himself would never be offended. 

They now repaired to the garden of Gethsemane ; and leaving the 
rest of the apostles near the entrance, our blessed Saviour, taking with 
him Peter, James, and John, retired into the most solitary parts of the 
garden, to enter on the preparatory scene of the great tragedy .that was 
now approaching. Here the blessed J esus labored under the bitterest 
agony that ever human nature suffered, during which he prayed with 
the utmost fervency to his Father, " offering up prayers and supplica- 
tions, with strong crying and. tears ; and his sweat was as it were great 
drops of blood, felling down to the ground." 

While our blessed Redeemer was thus interceding with the Al- 
mighty, his three disciples were fallen asleep, though he had made 
three several visits to them, and calling to Peter, asked him if he 
could not watch one hour with him, advising them all to watch and 
pray, that they might not enter into temptation, adding, " The spirit, 
indeed, is willing, but the flesh is Weak." 

While he was discoursing with them, a band of soldiers from the 
chief priests and elders, preceded by the traitor Judas to conduct and 
direct them, rushed into the garden, and seized the great High Priest 
of our profession. Peter, whose ungovernable zeal would admit of 
no restraint, drew his sword, and, without the least order from his 
Master, struck at one of the persons who seemed to be remarkably 
busy in binding Jesus, and cut off his right ear. This wild and un- 
warrantable zeal was very offensive to his Master, who rebuked Peter, 
and entreated the patience of the soldiers while he miraculously healed 
the wound. 

But now the fidelity of the apostles, which they had urged with so 
much confidence, was put to the trial. But, alas ! instead of assisting 
or comforting their Master, they all forsook him and fled. 

The soldiers who had bound Jesus, led him away, and delivered 
him to the chief priests and elders, who carried him from one tribunal 
to another ; first to Annas, and then to Caiaphas, where the Jewish 
Sanhedrim were assembled, in order to try and condemn him. 
4 In the meantime, Peter, who had followed the other disciples in 



436 



LIVES OF T II E 



APOSTLES 



their flight, recovered his spirits, and being encouraged by his com- 
panion, St. John, returned to seek his Master; and seeing him led 
towards the high priest's hall, followed at a distance to know the 
event ; but on his coming to the door was refused admittance, till one 
of the disciples, who was acquainted there, came out, and prevailed 
upon the servant who kept the door to let him in. Peter, being ad- 
mitted, repaired to the fire burning in the middle of the hall, round 
which the officers and servants were standing; where, being observed 
by the maid-servant who let him in, she charged him with being one 
of Christ's disciples; but Peter publicly denied the charge, declaring 
that he did not know him, and presently withdrew into the porch, 
where he heard the cock crow, an intimation seemingly sufficient to 
awaken his conscience into a quick sense of his duty, and the promise 
he had a few hours before made to his Master. But, alas ! human 
nature, when left to itself, is remarkably frail and inconstant. This 
Peter sufficiently experienced ; for while he continued in the porch, 
another maid met him, and charged him with being one of the follow- 
ers of Jesus of Nazareth, which Peter firmly denied, and, the better 10 
gain belief, ratified it with an oath. 

About an hour after this, the servant of the high priest, he whose 
ear Peter had cut off, charged him with being a disciple of Christ, and 
that he himself had seen him in the garden with him ; adding, that 
his very speech sufficiently proved that he was a Galilean. 

Peter, however, still denied the fact ; and added to his sin, by rati- 
fying it not only by an oath, but by a solemn curse and execration, 
that he was not the person, that he knew not the man. But no sooner 
had he uttered this denial than the cock crew ; at which his Master 
turned about and earnestly looked upon him, a look that pierced him 
to the heart, and brought to his remembrance what his Saviour had 
more than once foretold, that he would basely and shamefully deny 
him. Peter was now no longer able to contain his sorrow ; he flew 
from the palace of the high priest, and wept bitterly, passionately hp- 
wailing his folly and the aggravations of his sin. 

We have in St. Peter a sad warning for our instruction. The 
opinion of his own strength proved his ruin. So dangerous and fatal is 
it to lean on our own understandings ; to be wise, good, and safe 
in our own conceits, when all our sufficiency, all our safety is of 
God. 

It is certain, from various circumstances, that Peter, after the cruci- 
fixion of his Lord and Master, staid at Jerusalem, or at least in the 



A N D H 0 L Y W O M E N . 



437 



neighborhood ; for when Mary Magdalene returned from the sepulchre, 
to inform the disciples that the stone was rolled away from the door, 
and the body not to be found, Peter and John set oat immediately 
towards the garden. John, who was the younger, arrived at the 
sepulchre first, looked into it, but did not enter, either out of fear or 
reverence to his Saviour. Peter came soon after, and resolutely went 
into the sepulchre, where he found the linen clothes lying together in 
one place, and the napkin that was about his head wrapped together 
in another: a sufficient indication that the body was not stolen away, 
for, had that been the case, so much care and order would not have 
been observed in disposing of the linen clothes. 

But Peter did not wait long in suspense with regard to his great 
Lord and Master, for the same day Jesus appeared to him, and as he 
was the first of the disciples who had made a signal confession of the 
divinity of the Messiah's mission, so it was reasonable he should first 
see him after his resurrection ; at the same time to convince him 
that the crime he had been guilty of in denying him was pardoned, 
and that he was come, like the good Samaritan, to pour oil into 
his wounded conscience. Soon after the apostles prepared to obey 
the command of their great Master, by retiring into Galilee ;; 
and we find that Peter, Nathaniel, the two sons of Zebeclee,, 
and two other disciples, returned to their old trade of fishing on 
the lake. 

One morning, early, as they were laboring at their employment,, 
having spent the whole night to no purpose, they saw on the shore a, 
grave person, who called to them, and asked them if they had any 
meat, to which they answered, No. Cast, then, replied he, the net 
on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They followed hia 
directions, and enclosed a prodigious number of large fish. Aston- 
ished at such remarkable success, the disciples looked one upon, 
another for some time, till St. John told Peter that the person on the- 
shore was doubtless their great Lord and Master, whom the winds,, 
the sea, and the inhabitants of the watery regions were so ready to 
obey. 

Peter no sooner heard the beloved disciple declare his opinion con- 
cerning the stranger, than his zeal took fire, and notwithstanding the 
coldness of the season, girt on his fisher's coat, threw himself into the 
sea, and swam to shore ; his impatience to be with his dear Lord 
and Master not suffering him to stay the few minutes necessary to 
bring the ship to land. 



438 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



As soon as the disciples came on shore they found a fire kindled, 
and fish laid upon it, either immediately created by the power of 
their Divine Master, or which came ashore of its own accord, and of- 
fered itself to his hand. But notwithstanding there were fish already 
on the fire, he ordered them to bring of those they had now caught, 
and dress them for their repast, he himself eating with them; both to 
give them an instance of mutual love and friendship, and also to as- 
sure them of the truth of his human nature, since he was risen from 
the dead. 

When the repast was ended our blessed Saviour addressed himself 
particularly to Peter, urging him to the utmost diligence in his care 
of souls : and because he knew that nothing but a sincere love to 
himself could support him under the troubles and dangers of so labor- 
ious and difficult an employment, he inquired of him whether he 
loved him more than the rest of the apostles, mildly reproving him 
for his over-confident resolution. Peter, whom fatal experience had 
taught humility, modestly answered, that none knew so well as him- 
self the integrity of his affections. Thou knowest the hearts of all 
men, nothing is hid from thee, and therefore thou knowest that I 
love thee. The question was three several times repeated by our 
blessed Saviour, and as oftentimes answered by the apostle ; it being 
but just that he, who, by a threefold denial, had given so much 
reason to question his affection, should now, by a threefold con- 
fession, give more than common assurance of his sincere love for 
his Master; and to each of these confessions our great Redeemer 
added this signal trial of his affection, " Feed my sheep." Instruct 
and teach them with the utmost care and the utmost tenderness. . 

The blessed Jesus having thus engaged Peter to a cheerful compli- 
ance with the dangers that might attend the discharge of his office, 
particularly intimated to him the fate that would attend him; telling 
him, that when he was young he girt himself, lived at his pleasure, 
and went wherever his fancy directed him ; but when he should 
reach the term of old age, he should stretch forth his hands, and 
another should gird and bind him, and lead him whither he had no 
desire to go, intimating, as the evangelist tells us, " by what death he 
should glorify God." 

Peter was well pleased to drink the bitter cup, and make his con- 
fession as public as his denial, providing all would be sufficient to 
prove the sincerity of his love. And seeing John following, he 
asked his great Master, what should be his, and whether he who 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



439 



had been the object of his Master's love in his lifetime, should not 
have as honorable a death as he that had denied him. To which 
Jesus replied, It doth not concern thee to know how I shall 
dispose of events with regard to him : he shall see the destruction 
of the Jewish nation, and then go down to the chambers of the dust 
in peace. 

Not long after our blessed Saviour appeared to his disciples at 
Jerusalem, to take his last farewell of them who had attended him 
during his public ministry among the sons of men. 

He now led them out as far as Bethany, a small village on the 
Mount of Olives, where he briefly told them that they were the per- 
sons he had chosen to be the witnesses both of his death and resur- 
rection ; a testimony which they should publish in every part of the 
world. In order to which he would, after his ascension into heaven, 
pour out his Spirit upon them in an extraordinary manner, that they 
might be the better enabled to struggle with that violent rage and 
fury with which the doctrine of the gospel would be opposed by men 
and devils. Adding, that in the meantime they should return to 
Jerusalem, and there wait till those miraculous powers were given 
them from on high. 

Having finished this discourse, he laid hands upon them, and gave 
them his solemn benediction ; during which he was taken from them, 
and received up into the regions of the heavenly Canaan. The 
apostles, who beheld their Master visibly ascend into heaven, were 
filled with a greater sense of his glory than they had ever been while 
he conversed with them familiarly on earth. And having per- 
formed their solemn adorations to him, they returned to Jerusalem 
with great joy, there to wait for the accomplishment of their great 
Master's promise. 

The apostles, though deprived of the personal presence of their 
dear Lord and Master, were indefatigable in fulfilling the commission 
they had received from him. The first object that engaged their at- 
tention, after their return to Jerusalem, was to fill up the vacancy in 
their number, lately made by the unhappy fall and apostasy of Judas. 
In order to this, they called together the church and entered into an 
upper room, when Peter, as president of the assembly, proposed to 
them the choice of a new apostle. 

After filling up the vacancy in the apostolic number, they spent 
their time in prayer and meditation till the feast of Pentecost, when 
the promise of their great Master in sending the Holy Ghost was 



440 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 



fulfilled. The Christian assembly were met, as usual, to perform the 
public services of their worship, when suddenly a sound, like that of 
a mighty wind, rushed in upon them, representing the powerful effi- 
cacy of that Divine Spirit which was now to be communicated to 
them. 

After which there appeared small flames of fire, which, in the shape 
of cloven tongues, descended and sat upon the head of each of them, 
to denote that the enjoyment of this gilt should be constant and per- 
petual, and not like the prophets of old, who were inspired only at 
fcome particular times and seasons. Upon this they were all immedi- 
ately filled with the Holy Ghost, which, in an instant, enabled them 
to speak fluently several languages which they had never learned, and 
probably never heard. 

The report of so sudden and strange an action was soon spread 
through every part of Jerusalem, which at that time was full of Jew- 
ish proselytes, " devout men out of every nation under heaven ; Par- 
thians, Medes, Elamites, the dwellers in Mesopotamia and Judea, 
Oappadocia, Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt, the 
parts of Lybia about Gyrene, from Rome, from Crete, and from Arabia." 

These no sooner heard of this miraculous effusion of the Holy 
Spirit than they flocked in prodigious numbers to the Christian assem- 
bly, where they were amazed to hear these Galileans speaking to them 
in their own native language, so various, and so very different from 
one another. And it could not fail of exceedingly increasing the 
wonder, to reflect on the meanness of the speakers, who were neither 
assisted by genius, polished by education, nor improved by use and 
custom. The disciples were destitute of all these assistances; their 
parts were mean, their education trifling, and their experience in 
speaking before great assemblies nothing. Yet these persons spoke 
boldly, and with the greatest propriety, in various languages. Nor 
were their discourses filled with idle stories, or the sallies of a luxuri- 
ant fancy. No, they expatiated on the great and admirable works of 
Omnipotence, and the mysteries of the gospel, which human appre- 
hension could never discover. 

This surprising transaction had different effects on the minds of 
the people, some attributing it to the effect of a miracle, and others 
fo the power and strength of new wine. Upon which the apostles 
all stood up, and Peter, in the name of the rest, undertook to confute 
this injurious calumnv. 

The effect of his discourse was equally wonderful and surprising; 



442 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



for vast numbers of those who before ridiculed the religion of Jesus, 
now acknowledged him for their Saviour, and flew to him for refuge 
from the impending storm : and St. Luke tells us, that there were 
that day added to the church no less than three thousand souls, who 
were all baptized and received into the flock of the great Shepherd 
of Israel, the bishop of our souls. A quick and plentiful harvest in- 
deed ! " This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes." 

Soon after this wonderful effusion of the Holy Spirit, Peter and 
John going up to the temple, about three in the afternoon, near the 
conclusion of one of the solemn hours of prayer, they saw a poor im- 
potent cripple, near forty years of age, who had been lame from his 
birth, lying at the beautiful gate of the temple, and asking alms of 
those who entered the sacred edifice. This miserable object moved 
their compassion ; and Peter, beholding him with attention, said, 
The riches of this world, the silver and gold so highly coveted by the 
sons of men, are not in my power to bestow ; but I possess the power 
of restoring life and health, and am ready to assist thee. 

Then, taking the man by the hand, he commanded him, in the 
name of Jesus of Nazareth, to rise up and walk. Immediately his 
nerves and sinews were enlarged, and the several parts of his diseased 
members performed their natural functions. Upon which the man 
accompanied them into the temple, walking, leaping, and praising 
God. 

So strange and extraordinary a cure filled the minds of the people 
with admiration, and their curiosity drew them around the apostles to 
view the men who had performed it. Peter, seeing the multitude 
gathering round them, took the opportunity of speaking to them and 
assuring them that this miracle was wrought not through his own 
power, but through that of the same Jesus of Nazareth whom they 
had crucified, but whom God had raised up from the dead the third 
day. He urged them to repent of their sins, and take hold of the 
atoning merits of Christ, and be saved. 

While Peter was speaking to the people in one part of the temple, 
John was, in all probability, doing the same in the other, and the 
success plainly indicated how powerful the preaching of the apostles 
was, five thousand persons embracing the doctrines of the gospel, and 
acknowledging the crucified Jesus for their Lord and Saviour. 

Such amazing success could not fail of exciting the attention and 
envy of the rulers of Israel. Accordingly the priests and Sadducees 
repaired to the Roman magistrate, and intimated to him, that in all 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



443 



probability this concourse of people would prove the cause of a tumult 
and insurrection. Upon this information the captain of the temple 
seized on the apostles and cast them into prison. 

The next day they were carried before the Jewish sanhedrim ; and 
being asked by what power and authority they had done this, Peter < 
boldly answered, Be it known unto you, and to all the descendants 
of Jacob, that this miracle was wrought wholly in the name of Jesus 
of Nazareth, whom ye yourselves have crucified and slain, and whom 
the Almighty hath raised again from the dead. This is the stone 
which you builders refused, and which is become the head of the cor- 
ner. Nor is there any other way by which you, or any of the sons 
of men, can be saved, but by this crucified Saviour. 

This boldness of the apostle was admired by all, even by the court 
of the sanhedrim. And it should be remembered that these very 
judges were the persons who had so lately condemned the blessed 
Jesus himself, and had no other way of justifying their proceedings 
than by a second act of cruelty ; that the apostles did not charge them 
with the crime of crucifying the Son of God in secret, but in the open t 
court of judicature, and in the hearing of all the people. 

The court after beholding them with a kind of astonishment, re- 
membered that they had seen them with Jesus of Nazareth, and there- 
fore ordered them to withdraw, while they debated among themselves 
what was proper to be done. It was impossible to deny the miracle ; 
for it was performed before all the people, and the person on whom 
it was wrought, no stranger in Jerusalem. They therefore resolved 
to charge them strictly not to preach any more in the name of Jesus. 
Accordingly they were again called in, and acquainted with this 
resolution of the council ; to which the apostles answered, that as they 
had received a commission from Heaven, to declare to all nations 
what they had seen and heard, it was certainly their duty to obey 
God rather than man. 

This was a fair appeal to the consciences of their very judges ; but 
these rulers of Israel, instead of being satisfied with it, would, in all 
probability, have proceeded to a greater violence, had not the people's 
veneration for the apostles checked their malice : so that all they dared 
to do was to enforce their menaces, and dismiss them. 

When the apostles were returned to their brethren, they informed 
them of the treatment they had met with from the Jewish magis- 
trates ; upon which they all joined in prayer to the Almighty for an 
extraordinary supply of courage and assistance, to enable them to 



444 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



execute their commission in these perilous times, and plant the relig- 
ion of their crucified Saviour. Nor were their prayers offered in 
vain ; for before they had concluded their fervent addresses to the 
throne of grace, the house was again shaken with a mighty wind, as 
on the day of Pentecost, and they were instantly replenished with 
fresh measures of the Holy Ghost; and notwithstanding all the 
threatenings of the Jewish rulers, found themselves enabled to preach 
the gospel of their great and beloved Master, with more boldness than 
ever. 

The labors of the apostles were crowned with abundant success, and 
it seems that such was the aversion of the inveterate Jews to those who 
became converts to the faith of Christ, that they were deprived of 
business in their respective callings ; for we find that the professors of 
the religion of the holy Jesus sold their effects, and brought the 
money to the apostles, that they might deposit it in one common 
treasury, and from thence supply the several exigencies of the 
church. 

But hypocrisy was not unknown among the professors of religion, 
even in these primitive times. Ananias, and his w T ife Saphira, having 
embraced the doctrines of the gospel, pretended to follow the free and 
generous spirit of others, by consecrating and devoting their estate to 
the honor of God, and the necessities of the church. Accordingly 
they sold their possessions, and brought part of the money and laid it 
at the apostles' feet, hoping to deceive them, though guided by the 
Spirit of Omnipotence. But Peter, at his first coming in, asked Ana- 
nias how he could suffer Satan to fill his heart with such enormous 
wickedness, as to think to deceive the Holy Ghost. That before it 
was sold it was wholly in his own power, and afterwards the money 
entirely at his own disposal ; so that his action was capable of no other 
interpretation than that he had not only abused and injured man, but 
mocked the Almighty himself, who he must know was privy to his 
most secret thoughts. 

The apostles had no sooner finished, than Ananias, to the great 
surprise of all that were present, fell down dead by a stroke .from 
Heaven. 

Not long after this his wife came in, whom Peter reproved in the 
same manner he had done her husband, adding, that she should im- 
mediately end her life in the same awful manner; upon which she 
was smitten by the hand of Omnipotence, and fell down dead, sharing 
with her husband in the punishment, as she had before in the heinous 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



445 



crime. This remarkable instance of severity filled all the converts 
with fear and trembling, and prevented, in a great measure, that hy- 
pocrisy and dissimulation by which others might flatter themselves to 
deceive the church. 

But such instances of severity were very extraordinary, the power 
of the apostles was generally exerted in works of mercy and benefi- 
cence towards the sons and daughters of affliction. They cured all 
kinds of diseases, and cast out devils, so that they brought the sick 
into the streets, and laid them upon beds and couches, that the shadow, 
at least, of Peter, as he passed by, might cover some of them ; well 
knowing that a single touch or word from either of the apostles was 
sufficient to remove the most inveterate diseases. 

But the stupendous works of the apostles, and the growing num- 
bers of the church alarmed the rulers of Israel, who seized the apostles 
and cast them into prison. Their power, however, was limited, and 
like the drop of a bucket to the ocean, when opposed to the Almighty 
arm of the great Jehovah. The prison-doors, though fastened with 
the utmost caution, opened of themselves at the approach of a mes- 
senger from the courts of heaven, who commanded the apostles to 
leave the dungeon, repair to the temple, and preach the glad tidings 
of the gospel to the people. 

The officers returning in the morning, found the prison-doors shut 
and guarded, but the prisoners were gone. This remarkable circum- 
stance greatly alarmed them, and they repaired to the council to ac- 
quaint them with what had happened. The rulers were astonished 
at the news; but hearing that the apostles were preaching in the 
temple, they sent an officer to bring them, with the least violence 
to their persons, before the sanhedrim. Their orders were soon 
obeyed, and the disciples of Jesus placed before the same court that 
had so lately condemned their Master. 

The apostles being thus brought before the sanhedrim, the high 
priest asked them how they dared to propagate a doctrine they had 
lately so strictly charged them not to preach ; to which Peter, in the 
name of the rest, replied, We certainly ought to obey God rather than 
man. And though you have so barbarously and contumeliously 
treated the Saviour of the world, yet God hath risen him up to be a 
prince and Saviour, to give both repentance and remission of 
sins. And of these things both we and the miraculous powers 
which the Holy Ghost hath conferred on all Christians are wit- 
nesses. 



448 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



This answer, delivered with remarkable boldness, exasperated the 
council, and they began to consult how they might destroy them. But 
Gamaliel, a grave and learned counsellor, after commanding the 
apostles to withdraw, desired them to proceed with caution in an af- 
fair of this nature, reminding them that several persons had already 
raised parties, and drawn great numbers of persons after them, but 
that every one of them had miscarried, and all their designs were ren- 
dered abortive, without the interposition of that court. That they 
would, therefore, do well to let the apostles alone; for if their doc- 
trines and designs were of human invention, they would come to 
nothing, but if they were of God, all their power and policy 
would be of no effect, and sad experience would too soon convince 
them that they had themselves opposed the counsels of the Most 
High. 

This prudent and rational advice had the desired success ; the coun- 
cil were satisfied, and after commanding the apostles to be scourged, 
they strictly charged them to preach no more in the name of Jesus, 
and set them at liberty. But this charge had little effect on the dis- 
ciples of the blessed Jesus ; they returned home in triumph, rejoicing 
that they were thought worthy to suffer in so righteous a cause, and 
to undergo shame and reproach for so kind and so powerful a 
Master. 

The Christian doctrine had been propagated hitherto without much 
violence of opposition in Jerusalem, but now a storm commenced with 
the death of the proto-martyr Stephen; nor did it end but with the 
dispersion of the disciples, by which means the glad tidings of the 
gospel, which till now had been confined to Judea, were preached to 
the Gentile world, and an ancient prophecy fulfilled, which says, 
u Out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from 
Jerusalem. " 

Among the dispersed followers of the blessed Jesus was Philip, the 
deacon, who had retired to Samaria, where, by his preaching, exhor- 
tations, and miracles, he had converted many souls. The apostles, 
who continued at Jerusalem, were soon informed of this remarkable 
success of Philip's ministry in Samaria, and thought it necessary to 
send him assistance. Accordingly, Peter and John were deputed to 
this infant church, who having prayed and laid their hands on the 
new converts, they received the Holy Ghost. 

Among Philip's Converts was one, Simon, who, by magic arts and 
diabolical sorceries, had gotten himself much fame, and even 



448 



LIVES OF THE 



APOSTLES 



claimed to have the power of a god. This man came to the apostles, 
and offered them money it' they would invest him with a portion of 
their power, so that whosoever he laid hands on might receive the 
Holy Ghost. Peter sternly rebuked his sinful presumption, and 
showed him his sin with such startling truthfulness, that the magician 
prayed him to make intercession with God, that his sin might be 
forgiven and he escape the heavy judgments he deserved. 

The apostles did not stay any longer in Samaria than was necessary 
to confirm the new converts in the faith they had embraced, and to 
preach the glad tidings of salvation in the adjacent villages ; after 
which they returned to Jerusalem, to assist the rest of the disciples 
with their power. 

The storm, though violent, being at length blown over, the church 
enjoyed a time of calmness and serenity: during which St. Peter went 
to visit the churches lately planted in those parts, by the disciples 
whom the persecution had dispersed. And at his arrival at Lydda, 
he miraculously healed JEneas, who had been afflicted with the palsy, 
and confined to his bed eight years; but on Peter's bidding him arise 
in the name of Jesus, he was immediately restored to perfect health. 
Xor was the success of this miracle confined to JEneas and his family : 
the fame of it was blazed through all the neighboring country, and 
many believed in the doctrine of the Son of God. It was even 
known at Joppa, a seaport town about six miles from Lydda, and 
the brethren immediately sent for Peter, on the following melancholy 
occasion : 

Tabitha, whose Greek name was Dorcas, a woman venerable for 
her piety and extensive charity, was newly dead, to the great loss of 
all mankind who loved genuine benevolence, especially the poor and 
afflicted, who were supported by her charity. At Peter's arrival he 
found her dressed for the funeral solemnity, and surrounded by 
mournful widows, who showed the coats and garments wherewith she 
had clothed them, the monuments of her liberality. But Peter put 
them all out, and, kneeling down, prayed with the utmost fervency; 
then turning the body, he commanded her to arise, and. taking her 
by the hand, presented her in perfect health to her friends and 
others, who were assembled to pay their last duties to so good a wo- 
man. This miracle confirmed those who had newly embraced the 
gospel of Jesus, and converted many more to the faith. After which 
he stayed a considerable time at Joppa, lodging in the house of one, 
Simon, a tanner. 



CONVERSION OF SAUL. 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



449 



During his abode in this city, one day, when he was offering up 
fiis prayers to the Almighty, he found himself hungry, and called for 
meat ; but while it was dressing for him he fell into a trance, wherein 
was presented to him a large sheet let down from heaven, containing 
all sorts of creatures, clean and unclean, at the same time a voice said 
to him, " Arise, Peter, kill and eat." But this apostle, as yet tena- 
cious of the rites and institutions of the Mosaic law, answered, that 
his conscience refused to comply, having never eaten anything that 
-was common or unclean. To which the voice replied, that it was 
unjust to consider that as common which God had cleansed. This 
was done thrice, after which the vessel was again drawn up to heaven 
and the vision disappeared. By this symbolical representation St. 
Peter was given to understand that the Almighty was now going to 
send him on a new embassy, which the Spirit at the same time com- 
manded him to undertake. While he was still wondering with him- 
self what the event would prove, three messengers knocked at the 
gate, inquiring for him ; and from them he received the following ac- 
count : that Cornelius, a Roman, captain of a band of Italian soldiers 
at Csesarea, a person of great benevolence and religion, one who had 
been long a proselyte, had, by an immediate command from God, 
sent for him. 

The next day Peter, accompanied by some of the brethren, went 
with the messengers, and the day after arrived at Caesarea. Cornelius, 
having information of his coming, had summoned his friends and 
kindred to Csesarea ; and, at the apostle's entering his house, fell at 
his feet, a method of address frequent in the eastern countries. But 
Peter, who considered that honor as due only to the Almighty, lifted 
him up, and declared to the company the reason of his coming, 
saying, he had lately learned that there was no respect of persons 
with God. 

When the apostle had ended his speech, Cornelius, at his request, 
related the particular reason for his sending for him. Four days ago, 
said this Roman officer, being conversant in the duties of fasting and 
prayer, an angel from the courts of heaven appeared to me, declaring 
that my prayers and alms were come up as a memorial before the 
throne of the Most High ; and at the same time ordered me to send 
to Joppa for one, Simon Peter, who lodged in the house of a tanner, 
near the sea-side, who would give me further information in the mys- 
teries of salvation. Accordingly, I made no hesitation to obey the 
heavenly messenger ; I sent immediately for thee ; and now thou art 
29 



450 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



come, and we are met together to hear what instructions thou hast ta 
communicate. 

The relation of the Roman centurion astonished the apostle ; but 
he was soon convinced that God had broken down the partition wall, 
and no longer maintained a peculiar kindness for the sons of Jacob ; 
but that he was now pleased to extend salvation and all his mercies 
to the Gentiles as well, that henceforth God's peculiar people were to 
be all those of every land and tongue who should confess the faith of 
Christ crucified, and own him as their Lord and Master. 

The Apostle at once gave utterance to this conviction in glowing 
words, and while he was thus speaking to his hearers, the Holy 
Ghost fell upon the greatest part of them. At this the Jews who ac- 
companied Peter marvelled exceedingly, to see that the gifts of the 
Holy Ghost were poured upon the Gentiles ; and Peter seeing this 
told the company that he knew no reason why these persons should 
not be baptized, as they had received the Holy Ghost as well as they; 
and accordingly he gave orders that they should be baptized • and to 
confirm them in the holy faith they had embraced, he stayed with 
them some time. 

Peter now returned to Jerusalem where he labored incessantly, in 
behalf of the church. Herod Agrippa, who had greatly pleased the 
Jews by putting the Apostle James to death, had Peter thrown into 
prison soon after his return to Jerusalem, intending to slay him also. 
But the churches prayed earnestly for the apostle's deliverance, and 
God heard their prayers. On the very night before the day appointed 
for the execution, an angel was sent from heaven to the dungeon 
where he found Peter asleep between his keepers. The angel raised 
him up, and took off his chains, ordered him to gird on his garments 
and follow him. Peter obeyed, and having passed through the first 
and second watch they came to the iron gate leading to the city, which 
opened to them of its own accord. The angel also accompanied him 
through one of the streets, and then departed from him ; on which 
Peter came to himself and perceived that it was no vision, but that 
his great and beloved Master had really sent a messenger from above, 
and released him from prison. He therefore repaired to the house of 
Mary, where many pious persons were assembled, offering up their 
prayers to the throne of grace for his safety. On his knocking at the 
door, a maid who came to let him in, knowing his voice, ran back to 
tell them that Peter was at the door : which they at first considered 
as the effect of fancy; but the damsei i'ontinuing to affirm that it was 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



451 



really true, they concluded it was his angel, or some messenger sent 
from the court of heaven. But opening the door they were con- 




vinced of their mistake, finding that it was really Peter himself, who 
briefly told them how he was delivered and, desiring them to inform 
his brethren of his being set at liberty, retired to another place. 



452 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



Some time after this miraculous deliverance of Peter, a controversy 
arose between the Jewish and Gentile converts, with regard to observ- 
ing the Mosaic law ; a dispute which gave great uneasiness to many 
persons; the Jews zealously contended that it was absolutely necessary 
to salvation to be circumcised, and observe the precepts of the cere- 
monial law, as well as those of the gospel. To compose this differ- 
ence, it was thought necessary to summon a general council of the 
apostles and brethren to meet at Jerusalem. This was accordingly 
done, and the case thoroughly debated. At last Peter stood up, and 
declared that God having chosen him out of all the apostles to be 
the first preacher of the gospel among the Gentiles, God, who was best 
able to judge of the hearts of men, had borne witness to them, that 
they were accepted of him, by giving them his Holy Spirit, as well 
as he had done the Jews, and consequently, that there was no difference 
between them. They could not therefore place the Jewish yoke, 
which neither they nor their fathers were able to bear, upon the necks 
of the disciples, without tempting and provoking the Almighty, who 
had given sufficient reasons to believe that the Gentiles, as well as the 
Jews, would be saved by the grace of the gospel. 

This declaration of St. Peter convinced the church, and it was unan- 
imously decreed that no other burden than the strict observance of 
a few particular precepts, equally convenient to the Jew and Gentile, 
should be imposed on them. And the decision was drawn up into a 
synodical epistle, and sent to the several churches for allaying the 
heats and controversies this dispute had occasioned. 

Thus early in the history of the Christian Church did differences 
of opinion arise concerning doctrine and government. Such differ- 
ences are only to be expected, as every individual has a right to his 
own opinion and convictions, and it is important that, as in this case, 
a spirit of charity and toleration should prevail. 

Soon after this council Peter left Jerusalem, and went down to An- 
tioch, where, using the liberty given him by the gospel, he freely ate, 
and conversed with the Gentile proselytes, considering them now as 
" fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God." This 
he had been taught by the vision of the sheet let down from heaven : 
this had been lately decreed at Jerusalem; this he had before prac- 
ticed with regard to Cornelius and his family, and justified the action 
to the satisfaction of his accusers, and this he had freely and innocently 
done at Antioch, till some of the Jewish brethren coming thither, he, 
for fear of offending them, withdrew himself from the Gentiles, as if 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



453 



it had been unlawful for him to hold conversation with uncircumcised 
persons, notwithstanding he knew and was fully satisfied that our 
blessed Saviour had broken down the wall of partition between the 
Jew and Gentile. 

By thus acting against the light of his own miud and judgment, he 
condemned what he had approved, and destroyed the superstructure 
he had before erected ; at the same time he confirmed the Jewish 
zealots in their inveterate errors, filled the minds of the Gentiles with 
scruples, and their consciences with fears. Nor was this all ; the old 
prejudices between Jew and Gentile were revived, and the whole num- 
ber of Jewish converts following the apostle's example, separated 
themselves from the company of Gentile Christians. Nay, even Bar- 
nabas himself was carried away by this torrent of unwarrantable 
practice. 

St. Paul was now at Antioch, and resolutely opposed St. Peter to 
his face ; he publicly reproved him as a person worthy to be blamed 
for his gross prevarication. He reasoned and severely expostulated 
with him, that he who was himself a Jew, and consequently under a 
more immediate obligation of observing the Mosaic law, should throw 
off the yoke himself, and at the same time endeavor to impose it on 
the Gentiles, who were never under the necessity of observing the 
ceremonies of the Israelites. A severe though an impartial charge ; 
but the remarkable eagerness of St. Paul to place things on a proper 
foundation, though he succeeded for the present, made a great noise 
afterwards in the world, and gave occasion to the enemies of Chris- 
tianity to represent the- whole as a compact of forgery and deceit : of 
such pernicious consequence are disputes among the principals of the 
church, and so fatal are the effects of pusillanimity, and a fear of of- 
fending persons bigoted to insignificant ceremonies. 

As we have already related all the transactions of this apostle that 
are founded on Scripture authority, we shall now have recourse to an- 
cient history for the residue of his life. 

Some time before this contest at Antioch, St. Peter preached the 
gospel in various parts of the world, enlarging the kingdom of his 
great Master, and spreading the glad tidings of salvation among the 
inhabitants of various countries ; and among the rest, those of Pome, 
then the mistress of the world. In that capital he is said to have 
continued several years, till the emperor Claudius, taking advantage 
of some seditious tumults raised by the Jews, published an edict, 
whereby they were banished from Rome, and among the rest St. Peter, 



454 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



who returned to Jerusalem, and was present at the synod already men- 
tioned. But how long he continued in the capital of Judea is uncer- 
tain ; for we have no account of his transactions for many years. 
This however is certain, that he was not idle in the service of his 
great Master; and Eusebius tells us, from Metaphrastes, that he 
visited several of the western parts, where he continued several years, 
spreading the glad tidings of salvation in these remote places, and 
converting the several nations to the Christian faith. 

But however this be, whether St. Peter was or was not in these 
parts, it is certain that towards the latter end of Xero's reign he re- 
turned to Rome, where he found the minds of the people strangely 
bewildered and hardened against the doctrines of the gospel by the 
sorceries of Simon Magus, who, as has already been observed, was 
chastised by Peter for his wickedness at Samaria. This monster of 
impiety not only opposed the preaching of the apostles, but also did 
all in his power to render them and their doctrine odious to the 
emperor. St. Peter foreseeing that the calumnies of Simon and his 
adherents would hasten his death, took the greater pains, and was 
still more assiduous to confirm those who had been any ways instru- 
mental in converting to the sublime truths they had received ; and in 
order to this, he strongly opposed that great deceiver of mankind ; 
for in the last years of his life he seems to have wrote his two epistles 
to the dispersed Jews in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Bythinia ; 
and in an appointed encounter with Simon, discovered his magical 
impostures, and, through the power and assistance of the Almighty, 
brought him to an exemplary and miserable death. 

The circumstances which attended this remarkable event are re- 
lated as follows : The apostle, meeting with Simon at Rome, and find- 
ing him still pretending to be some great person, even the promised 
Messiah, he could not help opposing zealously his presumptuous arro- 
gance. But Simon, more incensed by the opposition, offered to give 
the people such an evident demonstration of his being what he pre- 
tended, that he would place the "whole beyond contradiction by imme- 
diately ascending up into heaven. Upon this, by the help of some 
unperceived device, he raised himself from the earth, and seemed to 
be moving towards the regions of heaven. St. Peter and St. Paul 
beholding the delusion, had recourse to prayers, and obtained their 
petitions of the Almighty, namely, that the impostor should be soon 
discovered, for the honor of the blessed Jesus. Accordingly, he fell 
headlong to the ground, by which he was so bruised that he died in a 
very short time. 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



455 



Such was the end of this miserable, this unhappy man. But the 
news of it no sooner reached the emperor's ears than he vowed re- 
venge, both for the death of his favorite, and the endeavors used by 
the apostles to "turn mankind from darkness unto light, and from 
the power of Satan unto God." Accordingly he issued orders for 
apprehending St. Peter, together with his companion, St. Paul. 
St. Ambrose tells us that when the people perceived the danger to 
which St. Peter was now exposed, they prayed him to quit Rome, 
-and repair for awhile to some secure retreat, that his life might be 
preserved for the benefit of the church. Peter, with great reluctance, 
yielded to their entreaties, and made his escape by night ; but as he 
passed the gate, he was met by a person in the form of his great and 
beloved Master, and on his asking him whither he was going, an- 
swered, " To Rome, to be crucified a second time which Peter^ 
taking for a reproof of his cowardice, returned again into the city, 
and was soon after apprehended, and cast, together with St. Paul, 
into the Mamertine prison. Here they were confined eight or nine 
months, but spent their time in the exercises of religion, especially 
in preaching to the prisoners and those who resorted to them : and 
during this confinement it is generally thought St. Peter wrote the 
second Epistle to the dispersed Jews ; wherein he endeavors to con- 
firm them in the belief and practice of Christianity, and to fortify 
them against those poisonous and pernicious principles and actions 
which even then began to break in upon the Christian church. 

Nero at last returned from Acaia, entered Rome in triumph, and 
soon after his arrival resolved that the apostles should fall as victims 
and sacrifices to his cruelty and revenge. While the fatal stroke was 
expected, the Christians in Rome were continually offering up their 
prayers to Heaven to protect those two holy persons. But the 
Almighty was now willing to put an end to their sorrows, and after 
sealing the truth they had preached with their own blood, to receive 
them into the regions of eternal bliss and happiness, and exchange 
their crowns of martyrdom for crowns of glory. Accordingly they 
were both condemned by the cruel emperor of Rome ; and St. Peter 
having taken his farewell of the brethren, especially of St. Paul, was 
taken from the prison and led to the top of the Vatican Mount, near 
the Tiber, where he was sentenced to surrender up his life on the 
cross. 

At his coming to the place of execution, he begged the favor of the 
officers that he might not be crucified in the common manner, but 



456 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 



with his head downwards ; affirming that he was unworthy to suffer 
in the same posture in which his Lord had suffered before him. Thi& 
request was accordingly complied with, and the great apostle, St. Peter, 
surrendered up his soul into the hands of his great and beneficent 
Master, who came down from heaven to ransom mankind from de- 
struction, and open for them the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem. 

His body, being taken down from the cross, is said to have been 
embalmed by Marcellinus, the presbyter, after the manner of the Jews,, 
and then buried in the Vatican, near the Appian Way, two miles from 
Rome. 

Here it remained till the time of pope Cornelius, who re-conveyed 
it to Rome, where it rested in an obscure place till the reign of Con- 
stantine, who, from the great reverence he entertained for the Christian 
religion, erected many churches at Rome, and rebuilt and greatly en- 
larged the Vatican in honor of St. Peter. 



ST. PAUL. 1 

This great apostle of the Gentiles was a native of Tarsus, and a de- 
scendant from the ancient stock of Abraham. He was born about 
two years before the blessed Jesus, and belonged to the tribe of 
Benjamin. 

Tarsus, the birth-place of the apostle, was the metropolis of Cilicia, 
and was about three hundred miles from Jerusalem. It was exceed- 
ingly rich and populous, and a Roman municipium, or free corpora- 
tion, invested with the privileges of Rome by the first two emperors, 
as a reward for the citizens' firm adherence to the Caesars in the 
rebellion of Crassus. St. Paul was, therefore, born a Roman citizen, 
and he often pleads this privilege on his trials. 

It was common for the inhabitants of Tarsus to send their children 
into other cities for learning and improvement, especially to Jeru- 
salem, where they were so numerous that they had a synagogue of 
their own, called the synagogue of the Cilicians. To this capital our 
apostle was also sent, and brought up at the feet of that eminent rabbi 
Gamaliel, in the most exact knowledge of the law of Moses. Nor did 
he fail to profit by the instructions of that great master, for he so dili- 
gently confirmed himself to its precepts, that, without boasting, he 



458 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



asserts of himself, that touching the righteousness of the law he was 
blameless, and defied even his enemies to allege anything to the con- 
trary, even in his youth. He joined himself to the sect of the Phari- 
sees, the most strict order of the Jewish religion, but at the same 
time the proudest, and the greatest enemies to Christ and his holy 
religion. 

With regard to his double capacity of Jewish extraction and Ro- 
man freedom, he had two names, Saul and Paul, the former Hebrew, 
and the latter Latin. It was common for the descendants of Benjamin 
to give the name of Saul to their children ever since the time of the 
first king of Israel, who was chosen out of that tribe ; and Paul was 
a name as common among the Romans. We must also consider his 
trade of tent-making as a part of his education, it being the constant 
practice of the Jews to bring up their children to some honest calling, 
that in case of necessity they might provide for themselves by the 
labor of their own hands. 

Saul having obtained a thorough knowledge of the sciences culti- 
vated by the Jews, and being naturally of a very hot and fiery temper, 
became a great champion of the law of Moses, and the traditions of 
the elders, which he considered as zeal for God. This rendered him 
impatient of all opposition to the doctrine and tenets he had im- 
bibed, and a vehement persecutor of the Christians, who were 
commonly reputed the enemies and destroyers of the Jewish 
economy. 

The first action we find him engaged in was the disputation he and 
his countrymen had with the martyr Stephen, with regard to the 
Messiah. The Christian was too hard for them in the dispute, but 
they were too powerful for him in their civil interests ; for being en- 
raged at his convincing arguments, they carried him before the high 
priest, who by false accusations condemned him to death. How far 
-Saul was concerned in this cruel action it is impossible to say ; all we 
know is that he kept the raiment of them that slew r him. 

The storm of persecution against the church being thus begun, it 
increased prodigiously, and the poor Christians of Jerusalem were 
miserably harassed and dispersed. In this persecution our apostle 
was a principal agent, searching all the adjacent parts for the afflicted 
saints, beating some in the synagogue, inflicting other cruelties, con- 
fining some in prison, and procuring others to be put to death. Nor 
could Jerusalem and the adjacent parts confine his fiery zeal ; he ap- 
plied to the sanhedrim, and procured a commission from that court 
to extend his persecution to Damascus. 



A N D HOLY W OMEN. 



459 




PAUL AND BARS" ABAS AT LYSTRA. 



But it was the will of Providence that he should be employed in a 
work of a very different nature, and accordingly stopped him in hk 
journey ; for as he was travelling between Jerusalem and Damascus, 
to execute the commission of the Jewish sanhedrim, a refulgent light, 
far exceeding the brightness of the sun, darted upon him, at which 
both he and his companions were terribly amazed and confounded, 
and immediately fell prostrate on the ground. While they lay in 
this state a voice was heard in the Hebrew language, saying, " Saul, 
Saul, why persecutest thou me ?" To which Saul replied, " \Vho art 
•thou, Lord '?" And was immediately answered, " I am Jesus of Xaza- 
Teth whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the 
pricks." As if the blessed Jesus had said, All thy attempts to extir- 
pate the faith in me will prove abortive, and, like kicking against the 
spikes, wound and torment thyself. 

Saul was sufficiently convinced of his follv in acting against Jesus, 
whom he Avas now assured to be the true Messiah, and asked, " Lord, 
what wilt thou have me to do ?" On which the blessed Jesus replied, 
" Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must 
do." 

The company which were with him heard the voice but did not 
see the person who spoke from heaven. In all probability they were 
ignorant of the Hebrew language, and therefore only heard a confused 



460 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



sound ; for the apostle himself tells us, that " they heard not the voice 
of him that spake that is, they did not understand what was spoken. 

The apostle now arose from the earth, but found himself deprived 
of sight, the resplendent brightness of the vision being too intense for 
mortal eyes to behold. His companions, therefore, led him by the 
hand to the city of Damascus, where he entered the house of Judas, 
and remained there three days without sight, nor did he either 
eat or drink, but spent his time in prayer to the Almighty, 
beseeching him to pardon the sins of his ignorance and blinded 
zeal. 

In the meantime our blessed Saviour appeared in a vision to Ana- 
nias, a very devout and religious man, highly esteemed by all the 
inhabitants of Damascus, though he professed the religion of the cru- 
cified Jesus, commanding him to go into such a street in the city, and 
inquire in the house of Judas for one, Saul of Tarsus, then offering 
up the most fervent prayers to the throne of grace. "And the Lord 
said unto him, arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, 
and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus; for 
behold, he prayeth, and hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias 
coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his 
sight." 

Ananias, who was ever ready to obey the commands of the Most 
High, was startled at the name, having heard of his bloody practices 
at Jerusalem, and what commission he was now come to execute in 
Damascus. He, therefore, suspected that his pretended conversion was 
nothing more than a snare artfully laid by him against the Christians. 
But our blessed Saviour soon removed his apprehensions, by telling 
him that his suspicions were entirely destitute of foundation, and that 
he had now taken him as a chosen vessel to preach the gospel both to 
the Jews and Gentiles, and even before the greatest monarchs of 
the earth ; at the same time acquainting him with the great per- 
secutions he should undergo for the sake of the gospel. " For I 
will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's 
sake." 

This quieted the fears of Ananias, who immediately obeyed the 
heavenly vision, repaired to the house of Judas, and laid hands upon 
Saul, saying, That Jesus, who appeared to thee in the way, hath sent 
me to restore thy sight, and, by the infusion of his Spirit, to give 
thee the knowledge of those truths which thou hast blindly and igno- 
rantly persecuted, but who now is willing to receive thee by baptism 



462 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 



into his church, and make thee a member of his body. This speech 
was no sooner pronounced than there fell from his eyes thick films,, 
resembling scales, and he received his sight ; and after baptism con- 
versed freely with the Christians of Damascus. Nor did he only 
converse with them ; he also, to the great astonishment of the whole 
church, preached the gospel to those Christians he came down with 
an intention to destroy, at the same time boldly asserting that Jesus 
was the Christ, the Son of God ; and proving it to the Jews with such 
demonstrative evidence that they were confounded, and were utterly 
unable to answer him. 

This wonderful convert, at the instance of the divine command, re- 
tired into Arabia Petrsea, where he received a full revelation of all 
the mysteries of Christianity ; for he himself declares that he con- 
versed not with flesh and blood. 

Having preached in several parts of that country some time, he re- 
turned again to Damascus, applying himself with the utmost assiduity 
to the great work of the ministry, frequenting the synagogues there,, 
powerfully confuting the objections commonly made by the descend- 
ants of Jacob against Jesus of Nazareth, and converting great num- 
bers of Jews and Gentiles. 

He was, indeed, remarkably zealous in his preaching, and blessed 
with a very extraordinary method of reasoning, whereby he proved 
the essential doctrines of Christianity beyond exception. This irri- 
tated the Jews to the highest degree ; and at length, after two or three 
years' continuance in those parts, they found means to prevail on the 
governor of Damascus to have him put to death. But they knew it 
would be difficult to take him, as he had so many friends in the city; 
they therefore kept themselves in a continual watch, searched all the 
houses where they supposed he might conceal himself, and also ob- 
tained a guard from the governor, to observe the gates, in order to 
prevent his escaping from them. 

In this difficulty his Christian friends were far from deserting him: 
they tried every method that offered to procure his escape ; but find- 
ing it impossible for him to pass through either of the gates of the 
city, they let him down from one of their houses, through a window, 
in a basket, over the wall, by which means the cruel designs of his 
enemies were rendered abortive. 

Having thus escaped from his malicious persecutors, he repaired to 
Jerusalem, and on his arrival addressed himself to the church. But 
they, knowing well the former temper and principles of this great 



464 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



persecutor, shunned his company, till Barnabas brought him to Peter, 
who was not vet cast into prison, and to James, bishop of Jerusalem, 
informing them of his miraculous conversion, and that he had preached 
the gospel with the greatest boldness in the synagogue of Damascus ; 
upon which they gladly received him, and familiarly entertained him 
fifteen days. 

During this interval he was remarkably assiduous in preaching the 
gospel of the Son of God, and confuting the Hellenist Jews * with 
the greatest courage and resolution. But snares were soon laid for 
him, as malice can as easily cease to be as to remain inactive ; and 
being warned by God in a vision, that his testimony would not be re- 
ceived at Jerusalem, he thought proper to depart and preach the gos- 
pel to the Gentiles ; he accordingly, being conducted by the brethren 
to Caesarea Philippi, set sail for Tarsus, his native city, from whence 
he was soon after brought by Barnabas to Antioch, to assist him in 
propagating Christianity in that city. 

In this employment he spent one whole year, and had the satisfac- 
tion of seeing the gospel flourish in a very remarkable manner. In 
this city it was that the disciples first acquired the name of Christians, 
for before they were styled Xazarenes ; but this appellation soon pre- 
vailed all over the world, and the former was, in a few ages, almost 
entirely forgotten. 

About this time a terrible famine, foretold by Agabus, happened in 
several parts of the Roman empire, particularly Judea, which induced 
the Christians at Antioch to compassionate the miseries of their breth- 
ren at Jerusalem ; and accordingly they raised considerable contribu- 
tions for their relief, which they sent to the capital of Judea by the 
hands of Barnabas and Saul, who, immediately after executing their 
commission, returned to Antioch. But while they were performing 
the public exercises of religion, it was revealed to them by the Holy 
Ghost, that they should set apart Barnabas and Saul to preach the 
gospel in other places ; which was accordingly done, and they were 
immediately deputed for that service by prayer, fasting, and the im- 
position of hands. 

The first place they visited was Seleucia, where they did not con- 
tinue long, but sailed for Cyprus ; at Salamis, a great city in that 
island, they preached in the synagogue of the Jews. From hence 
they removed to Paphos, the residence of Sergius Paulus, the pro- 

* The Hellenist Jews were those who spoke the Greek instead of the Hebrew 
language. Paul was himself a Hellenist Jew. 



A N D HOLY W 0 U E N 



465 




AOTIOCH. 

consul of the island, a man of great wisdom and prudence, but 
miserably seduced by the wicked artifices of Bar- Jesus, a Jewish 
impostor, who styled himself Elymas, or the magician, who also 
vehemently opposed the apostles, and kept the pro-consul from em- 
bracing the faith. 

The pro-consul, however, called for the apostles, who, after severely 
checking Elymas for his malicious opposition to the truth, told him 
the divine \engeance was now ready to seize upon him ; and imme- 
diately he was deprived of his sight. The vengeance of the Al- 
mighty observing in this punishment a remarkable proportion, in 
depriving him of his bodily eyes who had so wilfully and maliciously 
shut those of his mind against the light of the gospel, and also 
endeavored to keep others in darkness and ignorance. This miracle 
convinced the pro-consul of the truth of the doctrines taught by the 
apostles, and made him a convert to the faith. 

St. Paul, after this remarkable success in Cyprus, repaired to 
Phrygia in Pamphilia, taking Titus with him in the room of Mark, 
who was gone to Jerusalem, and travelled to Antioeh, the metropolis 
of Pisidia. 

Soon after their arrival, thev entered the synagogue of the Jews, 
on the Sabbath day, and, after the reading of the law, Paul, being 
invited by the rulers of the synagogue, addressed the multitude pres- 
ent in strains of powerful eloquence. He related to them, step by 
-step, how God had set apart and cared for Israel, how he had favored 
30 



466 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 



it above all nations, and how he had gradually led them forward to 
the time of the coming of His Son, the blessed Jesus. The apostle 
then proceeded to declare to them the Christian faith, and to entreat 
them to embrace it. 

His address made so powerful an impression upon many of his 
hearers, that they requested him to repeat it on the following Sabbath. 
At the appointed time the whole city flocked to hear him. The 
principal Jews endeavored to dispute with him, and uttered many 
blasphemous expressions against the name of Jesus of Nazareth; 
whereupon Paul told them, that, as the Jews would not accept the 
salvation offered them, the gospel was henceforth to be preached to 
the Gentiles as well. 

This declaration caused the Gentile hearers of the apostles to rejoice 
exceedingly, magnifying the words of the Almighty, and many of 
them embraced the doctrines of the Gospel. But this only increased 
the malice and fury of the Jews, who, by false and artful insinuations, 
succeeded in having Paul and Barnabas driven out of the city. At. 
which the apostles departed, shaking off the dust of their feet as a 
testimony against their ingratitude and infidelity. 

From Antioch they went to Iconium, the metropolis of Lycaonia, a 
province of Lesser Asia, where they again entered into the synagogue 
of the Jews, notwithstanding the ill treatment they had received from 
them in other places, and preached so successfully that they converted 
a large part of the city ; but the Jews succeeded in gathering a mob 
for the purpose of stoning the apostles, who, however, receiving timely 
warning of their danger, fled from the city, and went to Lystra, where 
they renewed their labors. 

Among the converts at Lystra was a man who had been lame from 
his mother's womb, and had never walked. Paul perceiving his 
change of heart, thought it proper to make him a public example of 
the power of Christ, and standing in the midst of the congregation,, 
said to him in an audible voice, " Stand upright on thy feet and 
the words were no sooner pronounced, than his strength was at once 
restored, and he leaped up and walked, 

The people who beheld this miracle well knew that it was not 
wrought by any human power, and at once declared that the gods 
were come down to them in the likeness of men. They called Barna- 
bas Jupiter, on account of his venerable gravity, and Paul Mercury,, 
from his eloquence. The whole city flocked out to do honor to the 
apostles, who, with great difficulty, persuaded them that they were 




467 



468 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



simply men like themselves. This accomplished, they proceeded to 
explain the gospel to them. While they were thus engaged some Jews 
arrived from Antioch and Iconium, and succeeded by false statements 
in so enraging the populace against the apostles, that they seized them 
and stoned them in such a cruel manner that Paul was supposed to be 
dead, and was dragged out of the city. The Christians of Lystra 
took charge of his body, and while they were probably preparing it 
for burial, he arose, and returned with them into the city, and the next 
day departed with Barnabas to Derbe, where they preached the gospel 
and converted many ; no danger being able to terrify them from the 
work of the ministry, and publishing the glad tidings of salvation in 
every place. 

They did not, however, long continue at Derbe, but returned to 
Lystra, Iconium, Antioch, and Pisidia, confirming the Christians of 
those places in the faith, earnestly persuading them to persevere, and 
not be discouraged with those troubles and persecutions which they 
must expect would attend the profession of the gospel. And that the 
affairs of the church might be conducted with more regularity, they 
ordained elders and pastors to teach, to instruct, and to watch over 
them, and then left them to the protection of the Almighty, to whose 
care they recommended them by prayer and fasting. 

After leaving Antioch they passed through Pisidia and came to 
Pamphilia ; and after preaching the gospel at Perga they went down 
to Attalia. Having thus finished the circuit of their ministry, they 
returned back to Antioch in Syria, from whence they at first departed. 
Here they summoned the church, and gave them an account of their 
ministry, the success it had met with in these different parts, and how 
great a door had thus been opened for the conversion of the Gentile 
world. 

While St. Peter continued at Antioch, that famous controversy with 
regard to the observation of the Jewish ceremonies under the Christian 
dispensation, was set on foot by certain Jewish converts, to the great 
disturbance of the whole church. And it was determined to send Paul 
and Barnabas to consult with the apostles and church at Jerusalem, that 
this affair might be settled on the most solid foundation. On their ar- 
rival at Jerusalem, they first addressed themselves to Peter, James, and 
John, the pillars of that church, by whom they were kindly enter- 
tained, and admitted to the right hand of fellowship. And perceiving 
by the account given them by St. Paul, that the gospel of the uncir- 
cumcision was committed to him, as that of the circumcision was to 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



469 



Peter, they agreed that Peter should preach to the Jews, and Paul to 
the Gentiles. This being determined, a council was summoned, 
wherein Peter declared his opinion, and Paul and Barnabas acquainted 
them with the great things God, by their ministry, had done among 
the Gentiles. A plain evidence that they were accepted by the Al- 
mighty, though uncircumcised, as well as the Jews with all their 
legal rights and privileges. Accordingly it was unanimously deter- 
mined, that the Gentiles were not under the obligation of the law of 
Moses, and therefore that some persons of his own church should be 
joined with Paul and Barnabas to carry the decrees of the council to 
Antioch, for their fuller satisfaction in this matter. Nothing tends 
more to impede the progress of vital religion than a bigoted attach- 
ment to unessential forms and modes. 

The controversy concerning the observation of Jewish ceremonies in 
the Christian church being decided in favor of the latter, St. Paul and 
his companions returned back to Antioch, and soon after Peter him- 
self came down. On reading the decretal epistle in the church, the 
converts conversed freely and inoffensively with the Gentiles, till some 
of the Jews coming thither from Jerusalem, Peter withdrew his con- 
versation, as if it had been a thing unwarrantable and unlawful. By 
such a strange method of proceeding the minds of many were dissatis- 
fied, and their consciences very uneasy. St. Paul with the greatest 
concern observed it, and publicly rebuked Peter, with that sharpness 
and severity his unwarrantable practice deserved. 

Soon after this dispute Paul and Barnabas resolved to visit the 
churches they had planted among the Gentiles, and Barnabas was de- 
sirous of taking with them his cousin Mark ; but this Paul strenuously 
opposed, as he had left them in their former journey. This trifling 
dispute arose to such a height that these two great apostles and fellow- 
laborers in the gospel parted. Barnabas, taking Mark with 
him, repaired to Cyprus, his native country; and Paul, having 
made choice of Silas, and recommended the success of his under- 
taking to the care of Divine Providence, set forward on his intended 
journey. 

They first visited the churches of Syria and Cilicia, confirming them 
in the faith by their instructions and exhortations. Hence they 
sailed to Crete, where Paul preached the gospel, and constituted Titus 
as the first bishop and pastor of the island, leaving him to settle those 
affairs of the church which time would not permit the apostle to settle 
himself From hence Paul and Silas returned back into Cilicia, and 



470 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



came to Lystra, where they found Timothy, whose father was a Greek, 
but his mother a Jewish convert, and by her he had been brought up 
under all the advantages of a pious and religious education, especially 
with regard to the holy scriptures, which he had studied with the 
greatest assiduity and success. This person St. Paul designed for the 
companion of his travels, and a special instrument in the ministry of 
the gospel. But knowing that his being uncircumeised would prove 
a stumbling-block to the Jews, he caused him to be circumcised ; being 
willing, in lawful and indifferent matters, to conform himself to the 
tempers and apprehensions of men, in order to save their souls. In 
this instance the apostle evinced much prudence, well knowing that 
inveterate prejudices in religious matters are not easily overcome; for 
which reason he is said to become all things to all men. 

Everything being ready for their journey, St. Paul and his com- 
panions departed from Lystra, passing through Phrygia and the 
country of Galatia, where the apostle was entertained with the greatest 
kindness and veneration, the people looking upon him as an angel 
sent immediately from heaven; and being by revelation forbidden to 
go into Asia, he was commanded by a second vision to repair to Mace- 
donia, to preach the gospel. Accordingly, our apostle prepared to 
pass from Asia into Europe. 

Here St. Luke joined them, and became ever after the inseparable 
companion of St. Paul, who being desirous of finding the speediest 
passage into Macedonia, took ship with his companions, Silas, Luke, 
and Timothy, and came to Samothracia, an island in the iEgean sea, 
not far from Thrace ; and the next day he went to JSJeapolis, a port 
of Macedonia. Leaving Xeapolis, they repaired to Philippi, the me- 
tropolis of that part of Macedonia, and a Roman colony, where they 
staid some days. 

In this city Paul, according to his constant practice, preached in a 
proseucha, or oratory of the Jews, which stood by the river's side, at 
some distance from the city, and was much frequented by the devout 
women of their religion, who met there to pray and hear the law. To 
these St. Paul preached the glad tidings of the gospel ; and by the in- 
fluence of the Holy Spirit converted many, especially a certain woman 
named Lydia, a Jewish proselyte, a seller of purple in that city, but 
a native of Thyatira. This woman, being baptized with her whole 
family, was so importunate with St. Paul and his companions to abide 
at her house, that they were constrained to accept of her invitation. 
During the time of the apostles' residing in this city they continued 



472 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



their daily course of worshipping at the same oratory. And after 
several days, as they were repairing to the same place of devotion, 
there met them a damsel who was possessed of a spirit of divina- 
tion, by whom her masters acquired very great advantage. This 
woman followed Paul and his companions, crying out, " These men 
are the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the wav 
of salvation/' Paul at first took no notice of her, not beino; willing 
to multiply miracles without necessity. But when he saw her follow- 
ing them several days together he began to be troubled, and in imita- 
tion of his great Master, who would not suffer the devil to acknowl- 
edge him, lest his false and lying tongue should prejudice the truth in 
the minds of men, commanding the spirit, in the name of Jesus, to 
come out of her. The evil spirit with reluctance obeyed, and left the 
damsel that very instant. 

This miraculous cure proving a great loss to her masters, who ac- 
quired large gains from her soothsaying, they were filled with envy 
and malice against the apostles, and by their instigation the multitude 
arose, and, seizing upon Paul and his companions, hurried them 
before the magistrates and governors of the colony, accusing them of 
introducing many innovations which were prejudicial to the State, and 
unlawful for them to comply with as being Romans. 

The magistrates being concerned for the tranquillity of the State, 
and jealous of all disturbances, were very forward to punish the 
offenders, against whom great numbers of the multitude testified, and 
therefore commanded the officers to strip them, and scourge them se- 
verely, as seditious persons. 

This was accordingly executed ; after which the apostles were com- 
mitted to close custody, the gaoler receiving more than ordinary 
charge to keep them safely ; and he accordingly thrust them into the 
inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. But the most 
obscure dungeon, or the pitchy mantle of the night, cannot intercept 
the beams of divine joy and comfort from the souls of pious men. 
Their minds were all serenity ; and at midnight they prayed and sung 
praises so loud, that they were heard in every part of the prison. 
Nor were their prayers offered to the throne of grace in vain : an 
earthquake shook the foundations of the prison, opened the doors, 
loosed the chains, and set the prisoners at liberty. This convulsion 
of nature roused the gaoler from his sleep : who, concluding from 
what he saw that all his prisoners were escaped, was going to put a 
period to his life, but, Paul observing him, hastily cried out, " Do 



AND HOLY W OMEN. 



thyself no harm, for we are all here." The keeper was now as greatly 
surprised at the goodness of the apostles, as he was before terrified at 
the thought of their escape ; and calling for a light, he came immedi- 
ately into the presence of the apostles, fell down at their feet, took 
them from the dungeon, brought them to his own house, washed their 
stripes, and begged of them to instruct him in the knowledge of that 
. God who was so mighty to save. 

St. Paul readily granted his request, and replied, that, if he be- 
lieved in Jesus Christ, he might be saved, with his whole house. 
Accordingly, the gaoler, with all his family, were, after competent 
instruction, baptized, and received as members of the Church of 
Christ. 

As soon as it was day, the magistrates, either hearing what had 
happened, or reflecting on what they had done as too harsh and un- 
justifiable, sent their serjeant to the gaoler, with orders to discharge 
the apostles. The gaoler joyfully delivered the message, and bid them 
" depart in peace." But Paul, that he might make tlie magistrates 
sensible what injury they had done them, and how unjustly they had 
punished them without examination or trial, sent them word, that as 
they thought proper to scourge and imprison Romans, contrary to the 
laws of the Empire, he expected they should come themselves, and 
make them some satisfaction. 

The magistrates were terrified at this message, well knowing how 
dangerous it was to provoke the formidable power of the Romans, 
who never suffered any freeman to be beaten uncondemned. They 
came therefore to the prison, and very submissively entreated the 
apostles to depart without any further disturbance. 

This small recompense for the cruel usage they had received was 
accepted by the meek followers of the blessed Jesus. They left the 
prison, and retired to the house of Lydia, where they comforted their 
brethren with an account of their deliverance, and departed, having 
laid the foundation of a very eminent church, as it appears from 
St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians. 

Leaving Philippi, Paul and his companions continued their jour- 
ney towards the west, till they came to Thessalonica, the metropolis 
of Macedonia, about a hundred and twenty miles from Philippi. On 
their arrival at Thessalonica, Paul, according to his custom, went 
into the synagogue of the Jews, and preached unto his countrymen — 
the ungrateful usage he had met with in other places not discouraging 
him from persevering in so glorious a work. His doctrine, however, 



474 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 




THESSALONICA. 



was strenuously opposed by the Jews, who would not allow Jesus to 
be the Messiah, because of his ignominious death. 

During the stay of the Apostles at Thessalonica, they lodged in the 
house of a certain Christian named Jason, who entertained them very 
courteously. But the Jews would not suffer the apostles to continue 
at rest. They refused to embrace the gospel themselves, and therefore 
envied its success, and determined to oppose its progress. Accord- 
ingly they gathered together a great number of lewd and wicked 
wretches, who beset the house of Jason, intending to take Paul and 
deliver him up to an incensed multitude. But in this they w~ere dis- 
appointed, Paul and Silas being removed from thence by the Chris- 
tians, and concealed in some other part of the city. 

Their fury, however, was rather exasperated than lessened at losing 
their prey; and as they could not find the apostles of the blessed 
Jesus, they determined to be revenged on Jason, who had concealed 
them. Accordingly they seized on him, with some others of the 
brethren, and carried them before the magistrates of the city, accusing 
them, as they had before done the apostles themselves at Philippi, of 
disturbing the peace of the Empire, and setting up Jesus as a king, 
in derogation of the Emperor's dignity and authority. This accusa- 
tion induced both the people and the magistrates to be their enemies. 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



And though Jason was only accused of harboring those innovators, 
jet the magistrates could not be prevailed upon to dismiss him and 
his companions, till they had given security for their appearance. 

As soon as the tumult was over, the Thessalonians, who had been 
converted by them, sent away Paul and Silas by night to Berea, a 
city about fifty miles south of Thessalonica, but out of the power of 
their enemies. Here also Paul's great love for his countrymen, the 
Jews, and his earnest desire of their salvation, excited him to preach 
to them in particular. Accordingly, he entered into their synagogue, 
and explained the gospel unto them, proving, out of the scriptures 
of the Old Testament, the truth of the doctrines he advanced. These 
Jews were of a more ingenuous and candid temper than those of 
Thessalonica ; and as they heard him with great reverence and atten- 
tion expound and apply the scriptures, so they searched diligently 
whether his proofs were proper and pertinent, and consonant to the 
sense of the texts he referred to. And having found everything to 
be agreeable to what Paul had advanced, many of them believed ; 
and several Gentiles, following their example, became obedient to the 
faith, among whom were several women of quality. 

The news of this remarkable success was carried to Thessalonica, 
and greatly incensed the inveterate enemies of the gospel there, who 
accordingly repaired to Berea, and raised tumults against the apostles. 
So that Paul, in order to avoid their fury, was forced to leave the 
town. But Silas and Timothy, either less known or less envied, con- 
tinued still there. 

Paul leaving Berea under the conduct of certain guides, it was pre- 
tended he designed to retire by sea out of Greece, that his restless ene- 
mies might cease their persecution ; but the guides, according to Paul's 
order, brought him to Athens, and left him there, after receiving from 
him an order for Silas and Timothy to repair to him as soon as 
possible. 

While St. Paul continued at Athens, expecting the arrival of Silas 
and Timothy, he walked up and down, to take a more accurate sur- 
vey of the city, which he found miserably overrun with superstition 
and idolatry. The inhabitants were remarkably religious and devout. 
They had a great number of gods whom they adored. False indeed 
they were, but such as they, being destitute of revelation, accounted 
true. And so very careful were they that no deity should want due 
Iionor from them, that they had an altar inscribed ." To the un- 
known God." 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



477 



The Areopagus, the supreme court of the city, was to judge of all 
gods to whom public worship might be allowed, and Paul was brought 
before those judges, to give an account of his doctrine. 

Paul being placed before the judges of this high assembly, readily 
gave them an account of his doctrine, in a grave and elegant speech ; 
wherein he did not tell them they were horrible and gross idolaters, 
lest he should offend them, and thereby prevent them from listening 
to his reasons ; but having commended them for their religious dis- 
positions, he took occasion, from the altar inscribed to the unknown 
God, to make a proper defence of his doctrine. I endeavor, said he, 
only to explain that altar to you, and manifest the nature of that God 
whom ye ignorantly worship. The true God is he that made the 
world and all things therein ; and who, being Lord of all, dwells not 
in temples made with hands, nor is to be worshipped in lifeless idols. 
As he is the Creator of all things, he cannot be confined to the work- 
manship of man, whether temples or statues ; nor stands in need of 
sacrifices, since he is the fountain of life to all things. He made 
from one common original the whole race of mankind, and hath 
wisely determined their dependence on him, that they might be 
obliged to seek after him and serve him. A truth perceivable in the 
darkest state of ignorance, and acknowledged by one of your own 
poets. If this be the nature of God, it is surely the highest absurdity 
to represent him by an image or similitude. The divine patience 
hath been too much exercised already with such gross abuses in re- 
ligion ; but now God expects a thorough reformation ; having sent 
his Son, Jesus Christ, to make him known to the world, and at the 
same time to inform them that he hath appointed a day of general 
judgment, when the religion of mankind shall be tried by the test 
of the gospel, before his only-begotten Son, who is appointed 
sole judge of quick and dead, and whose commission to that 
high office hath been ratified by the Almighty in raising him from 
the dead. 

On this mention of the resurrection some of the philosophers 
mocked and derided him ; others, more modest, but not satisfied with 
« the proofs he had given, gravely answered, " We would hear thee 
again of this matter." After which Paul departed from the court, 
but not without some success, for a few of his auditors believed and 
attended his instructions. 

During St. Paul's stay at Athens, Timothy, according to the order 
he had received, came to him out of Macedonia, and brought an ac- 



478 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 



count that the Christians at Thessaloniea were under persecution 
from their fellow-citizens ever since his departure, at which St. Paul 
was greatly concerned, and at first inclined to visit them in person to 
confirm them in the faith they had embraced ; but being hindered 
by the enemies of the gospel, he sent Timothy to comfort them, 
and put them in mind of what they had at first heard, namely, 
that persecution would be the constant attendant on their pro- 
fession. 

On Timothy's departure St. Paul left Athens and travelled to 
Corinth, a very populous place, and famous for its trade. Here he 
found Aquila, and Priscilla, his wife, lately come from Italy, having 
been banished from Rome by the decree of Claudius ; and they being 
of the same trade he himself had learned in his youth, he wrought 
with them, that he might not be burdensome to the new converts : 
honest ministers are not mercenary. 

After some stay in Corinth, the apostle was joined by Silas and 
Timothy, and disputed frequently in the synagogue, reasoning and 
proving that Jesus was the true Messiah. This exasperated the Jews 
to the greatest degree, and what they could not conquer by argument 
and force of reason, they endeavored to carry by noise and clamor, 
blended with blasphemies and revilings, the last refuge of an impo- 
tent and baffled cause. But St. Paul, to testify his resentment, shook 
his garments, and told them, that since they were determined to pull 
down the vengeance of heaven upon their own heads, he was abso- 
lutely guiltless and innocent, and would henceforth address himself to 
the Gentiles. Accordingly, he left them, and repaired to the house 
of Justus, a religious proselyte, where, by his preaching and miracles, 
he converted great numbers to the faith ; among which were Crispus, 
the chief ruler of the synagogue, Garus and Stephanus, who, with 
their families, were baptized, and admitted members of the Christian 
church. 

About this time he seems to have written his first Epistle to the 
Thessalonians, Silas and Timothy being lately returned from 
thence, and delivered the message for which he had sent them 
thither. » 

During the apostle's stay at Corinth, he wrote his second Epistle to 
the Thessalonians, to supply his absence. 

St. Paul, on his leaving the church at Corinth, took ship at Cen- 
chrea, the port of Corinth, for Syria, taking with him Aquila and 
Priscilla ; and on his arrival at Ephesus he preached awhile in the 




PAUL PREACHING AT EPHESUS- 



479 



480 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



synagogue of the Jews, promising to return to them, after keeping the 
passover at Jerusalem. Accordingly, he again took ship, and landed 
at Csesarea, and from thence travelled to Jerusalem, where he kept the 
feast, visited the church, and then repaired to Antioch. Here he 
staid some time, and then traversed the country of Galatia and 
Phrygia, confirming the newly-converted Christians till he came to 
Ephesus. 

During the time he spent in this large circuit, Providence took care 
of the churches of Ephesus and Corinth, by means of one Apollos, an 
eloquent Jew of Alexandria, and well acquainted with the law and 
writings of the prophets. This man coming to Ephesus, though he 
was only instructed in the rudiments of Christianity and John's bap- 
tism, yet taught with great courage and a most powerful zeal. After 
being fully instructed in the faith by Aquila and Priscilla, he passed 
over into Acaia, being furnished with recommendatory letters by the 
churches of Ephesus and Corinth. He was of the greatest service in 
Acaia, in watering what Paul had planted, confirming the disciples, 
and powerfully convincing the Jews that Jesus was the true Messiah 
promised in the scriptures. 

While Apollos was thus employed, St. Paul returned to Ephesus, 
where he fixed his abode for three years, bringing with him Gaius of 
Derbe, Aristarchus, a native of Thessalonica, Timotheus, and Erastus 
of Corinth, and Titus. The first thing he did after his arrival was to 
examine certain disciples, " whether they had received the Holy Ghost 
since they believed." To which they answered, that the doctrine they 
had received promised nothing of that nature, nor had they ever heard 
that such an extraordinary spirit had of late been bestowed upon the 
church. 

This answer surprised the apostle, who asked them in what name 
they had been baptized, since, in the Christian form, the name of the 
Holy Ghost was always expressed. They replied, that they had only 
received John's baptism ; upon which the apostle informed them, that 
though John's baptism commanded nothing but repentance, yet it 
tacitly implied the whole doctrine of Christ and the Holy Ghost. 
When they heard this they were baptized according to the form pre- 
scribed by Christ himself, that is, in the name of the Father, of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; and after the apostle had prayed, and 
laid his hands over them, they received the gifts of tongues, and other 
miraculous powers. 

After this he entered into the Jewish synagogues, where, for the 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



481 



first three months, lie contended and disputed with the Jews, endeav- 
oring, with great earnestness and resolution, to convince them of the 
truth of the Christian religion. But when, instead of success, he met 
with nothing but obstinacy and infidelity, he left the synagogue, and 
taking those with him whom he had instrumentally converted, in- 
structed them and others who resorted to him, in the school of one 
Tyrannus, a place where scholars used to be instructed. 

In this manner he continued to preach the gospel two whole years, 
by which means the Jews and proselytes had an opportunity of hear- 
ing the glad tidings of salvation. And because miracles are the 
clearest evidence of a divine commission, the Almighty was pleased to 
testify the doctrine which St. Paul delivered by amazing and miracu- 
lous operations, many of which were of a peculiar and extraordinary 
nature, for he not only healed those that came to him, but if napkins 
or handkerchiefs were only touched by him, and applied to the sic!;, 
their diseases immediately vanished, and the evil spirits departed oiiit 
of those that were possessed by them. 

About this time the apostle wrote his Epistle to the Galatians, for 
he had heard, that, since his departure, corrupt opinions had crept in 
among them, with regard to the necessity of observing the legal 
rites, and that several impostors had found admittance into the 
church. 

During St. Paul's stay at Ephesus, an incident happened which 
came near resulting seriously for him. There stood in Ephesus a 
magnificent Temple of Diana, which was so famous for its beauty that 
it was considered one of the seven wonders of the world. It was held 
in the greatest veneration by all the believers in the faith of the 
Greeks and Romans, for it contained an image of Diana, which was 
said to have been made by Jupiter, himself, and dropped down from 
heaven. The silversmiths of Ephesus carried on a large trade in gold 
and silver models or shrines of this temple, some of which were so 
small as to be carried in the pocket as charms. One Demetrius, the 
chief of the silversmiths, perceiving that the establishment of the 
Christian faith would do away with this trade, stirred up the Ephe- 
sians against the apostles, by working on the popular zeal for Diana. 
The result was, that failing to find Paul, the mob seized two of his 
companions, Gaius and Aristarchus, and hurried them to the theatre, 
intending to throw them to the wild beasts. Paul, hearing of this, 
prepared to go to the theatre, to endeavor to plead in behalf of his 
brethren, but was prevented by the Christians of the place, and by 
31 



482 



LIYES OF THE APOSTLES. 



several of the prominent Gentiles who were his friends, who represen- 
ted to him that he would only expose himself to the popular rage 
without accomplishing any good for his companions. 

The mob created a frightful tumult, and nothing prevented the 
murder of the friends of the apostle, but the timely interposition of 
the town-clerk, who having obtained silence reminded the people that 
their zeal in behalf of Diana was too well known throughout the 
world to need any such bloody attestation, and declared that if the 
silversmiths had anything to charge against Paul and his friends, they 
ought to do so through the civil courts, which were open to them, 
and reminded them that they would do well to do this, as they had 
already rendered themselves liable to be punished for inciting so great 
a tumult. His words had the desired effect. Gaius and Aristarchus 
were released, and the crowd dispersed. St. Paul regarded the es- 
cape of himself and his friends as miraculous, and so speaks of it in 
his writings. 

About this time he wrote his first Epistle to the Corinthians, to 
cure some dissensions and heresies which false teachers had caused in 
the infant church at Corinth. 

Soon after the tumult at Ephesus, Paul called the Christians to- 
gether, and took his leave of them with the most tender expressions 
of love and affection. He had now spent almost three years at Ephe- 
sus, and had founded there a very considerable church, of which he 
ordained Timothy the first Bishop. From Ephesus he went to Troas, 
two hundred miles distant. He expected to meet Titus here, but 
failing to find him continued his voyage to Macedonia, where he 
preached the gospel, even going as far as Illyricum, now called Scla- 
vonia. He met with many dangers and trials on this voyage and in 
his journeys by land, but God mercifully sustained and brought him 
through them all. Soon after, Titus came to him, and cheered him 
with the account of the good effects his epistle had produced at Cor- 
inth, bringing with him also a liberal contribution from the Corin- 
thian Christians for the church at Jerusalem. Influenced by this ex- 
ample, the Macedonian Christians made contributions for the same 
purpose. 

During the stay of Titus in Macedonia, Paul wrote his second Epis- 
tle to the Corinthians, and sent it to them by Titus and Luke, and 
about this time he wrote his first Epistle to Timothy, whom he had 
left at Ephesus. From Macedonia he went to Coriuth, from which 




483 



484 LITKS OF THE APOSTLES. 




NAZAHETH. 



place he wrote his Epistle to the Romans, which he sent by Phoebe, a 
deaconess of the church of Cenchrea, near Corinth. 

St. Paul now set out on his journey to Jerusalem to carry the con- 
tributions of the Grecian churches, but hearing that the Jews hiA 
laid a plot to rob and murder him on the route, he returned to Mace- 
donia, and went, by way of Philippi, to Troas, where he stayed seven 
days. On the Lord's day he preached to the Christians, intending to 
depart the next day, and while he was speaking, a young man named 
Eutychus, overcome by sleep, fell from the third story window in 
which he had been sitting, and was taken up for dead ; but the apos» 
tie, by his prayers to the throne of grace, presently restored him to 
life and health. 

On his arrival at Miletus he sent to Ephesus, to summon the elders 
of the church, and, on their coming, addressed them at length, re- 
minding them of his labors in their behalf, assuring them of his love 
for them, and exhorting them to remain steadfast in the faith of their 
crucified and risen Redeemer. He told them they would see his face 
no more, and then, commending them to the care of God, took a ten- 
der farewell of them. 

Having finished his discourse, he kneeled down and joined with 
them in prayer ; when they all melted into tears, and, with the great- 
est expressions of sorrow, attended him to the ship, grieving in the 



486 



LIYES OF THE APOSTLES. 



most passionate manner for what he had told them, that " they should 
see his face no more." 

From Miletus Paul went to Tyre, in Phoenicia, by way of Rhodes, 
in the iEgean sea, and Patara, the metropolis of Lycia. Upon reach- 
ing Tyre he remained a week with the brethren, who warned him 
not to go up to Jerusalem, as he would be exposed to great danger 
there ; but he refused to be turned from his purpose, and, after part- 
ing with them affectionately, passed on to Csesarea. There he was 
warned by a Christian prophet named Agabus, that if he went up to 
Jerusalem, the Jews would bind him and deliver him over to the 
Gentiles; but he declared he was " ready not only to be bound, but 
also to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord Jesus/' and, resist- 
ing the entreaties of his friends, he went up to Jerusalem, where he 
was kindly received by the Christians. 

The day after their arrival, Paul and those who had come with him 
went to the house of St. James the apostle, where the rest of the 
bishops and governors of the -church were met together. After mu- 
tual salutations, the apostle gave them a particular account of the 
success with which God had blessed his labors among the Gentiles; 
for which they all joined in thanksgiving to God. 

St. Paul was now told that there were thousands of Jewish converts 
in Jerusalem, who were all zealous for the law of Moses, and that, as 
these had heard of his doing away with the rite of circumcision in 
the case of his Gentile converts, they would watch him closely, to see 
if he conformed to the ceremonial law, now that he was in Jerusalem ; 
and he was advised, that, in order to prevent them from creating any 
disturbance, it would be better for him to conform to that law in some 
specified particulars. To this he readily consented ; but while in the 
temple, attending to these ceremonies, he was seen by some Jews from 
Asia, who seized him, and excited the multitude against him, by 
falsely declaring that he had everywhere preached doctrines deroga- 
tory to the Jewish nation, and destructive to the institutions of the 
law. Paul was, therefore, dragged out of the temple, the gates of 
which were shut, to prevent his return to that holy place. By ap- 
pealing to the governor, and stating that he was a free citizen of the 
rich and honorable city of Tarsus, he obtained leave to speak to the 
people, and addressed them in the Hebrew language, reciting to them 
the principal events of his early life, and his miraculous conversion, 
and telling them how Christ had sent him to preach the gospel to the 
Gentiles. 



488 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 



The Jews, who despised the Gentiles, now refused to listen to him 
any longer, and the captain of the guard had him taken to the castle, 
intending to scourge him until he should confess the true cause of the 
popular fury against him. Paul, however, avoided this degrading 
and painful suffering by demanding, as a free-born Roman citizen, 
that he should first be tried and sentenced for his alleged offence, ac- 
cording to the laws of the empire, before being punished. This 
demand terrified the military authorities, who knew well the danger 
they would incur from maltreating a citizen of Rome. Accordingly, 
the apostle was freed from his chains, and the governor, in order to 
satisfy himself of the cause of so unusual a commotion, summoned the 
sanhedrim to meet him, and brought Paul before them. 

Being thus confronted with the great council of his nation, Paul 
told them he had always governed his actions by the severest rules of 
duty and conscience. This declaration, though perfectly true and 
appropriate, so offended the high priest Ananias, that he commanded 
those who stood next to the apostle to strike him in the face ; at which 
the apostle smartly replied, " God shall smite thee, thou whited 
wall ;" on which some of the spectators replied^ " It is not lawful to 
revile the high priest of the Almighty," and Paul answered, " I did 
not know that Ananias was appointed by God to be an high priest. 
But as he is invested with authority, it is unjust to revile him. God 
himself commanded that no man should speak evil of the rulers of the 
people." Paul perceiving that the council consisted partly of Sad- 
ducees, who denied the resurrection from the dead, and partly of 
Pharisees, who affirmed it, cried aloud, " Men and brethren, I am a 
Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, and am now brought before this tri- 
bunal for asserting the resurrection from the dead." 

This declaration threw the whole court into confusion, the Phari- 
sses inclining to take sides with Paul, and the Sadducees demanding 
his punishment. The dissensions spread to the spectators, and pro- 
duced such a commotion that the captain of the guard, to save Paul 
from being torn to pieces, took him back to the castle. During the 
night God comforted him with a revelation that he should live, in 
spite of the malice of his enemies, to bear the gospel to Rome 
itself. 

The next day Paul's sister's son detected a plot on the part of the 
Jews to kill the apostle, and accordingly the governor sent Paul to 
Csesarea, under a strong military escort, with letters to Felix, the Ro- 
man governor of that province, relating the whole transaction. 



489 



490 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



Paul's accusers were also ordered to appear before Felix, who, finding 
that the apostle was a native of Cilicia, told him he would determine 
the matter as soon as his accusers presented themselves. Meanwhile, 
he ordered Paul to be confined in the place called Herod's judgment 
hall. 

Soon after this Felix heard the case. Tertullus made an eloquent 
speech against Paul, charging him with heresy, sedition, and the 
profanation of the Temple ; but Paul replied with such force that Felix 
refused to pass any sentence until he could consult the governor of the 
castle at Jerusalem, who had first arrested Paul. He remanded the 
apostle to prison, but allowed him to receive the visits and kind offices 
of his friends. 

Shortly after, Felix's wife, Drusilla, a Jewess, and daughter of the 
elder Herod, came down to him at Cassarea, in whose presence- the 
governor sent for Paul, and gave him leave to explain the docll'ines 
of Christianity. Paul did so in words of powerful eloquence, and de- 
scribed the terrors of the last judgment so vividly that Felix trembled 
on his throne, and abruptly interrupted the apostle, telling him he 
would hear the rest at a more convenient season. 

Felix was soon succeeded in his government by Portius Festus, 
before whom, as soon as he came to Jerusalem, the high priest and 
sanhedrim brought charges against Paul, requesting that he might be 
sent up to Jerusalem to be tried, intending to assassinate him on the 
way ; but the governor replied that he was going down to Csesarea 
very soon, and that they must accuse Paul before him at that place. 
This they were prompt to do, and as soon as Festus had reached 
Csesarea, they brought charges against Paul of which he soon cleared 
himself, nor Avere his enemies able to prove anything against him. 
Festus, however, willing to win the favor of the Jews at the outset of 
his career, asked Paul whether he would be willing to go up and be 
tried before him at Jerusalem. But the apostle, well knowing the 
consequences of such a proposal, answered, as a Roman, " I appeal 
unto Caesar." 

This method of appealing was common among the Romans, and 
introduced to defend and secure the lives and fortunes of the people 
from the unjust encroachments and rigorous severities of the magis- 
trates, whereby it was unlawful, in cases of oppression, to appeal to . 
the people for redress, a thing more than once settled by the sanction 
of the Valerian law. 

Some time after St. Paul had appealed unto Caesar, king Agrippa, 



AND HOLY WOMEN 



491 



who succeeded Herod in the tetrarchate of Galilee, and his sister 
Bernice, came to Caesarea to visit the new governor. Festus em- 
braced this opportunity of mentioning the case of our apostle to king 
Agrippa, together with the remarkable tumult this affair had occa- 
sioned among the Jews, and the appeal he had made to Csesar. This 
account excited the curiosity of king Agrippa ; and he w T as desirous 
of hearing himself what St. Paul had to say in his own vindication. 
Accordingly, the next day the king and his sister, accompanied by 
Festus, the governor, and several other persons of distinction, came 
into the court with a pompous and splendid retinue, where the pris- 
oner was brought before them. On his appearing, Festus informed 
the court how greatly he had been importuned by the Jews, both at 
Csesarea and Jerusalem, to put the prisoner to death as a malefactor ; 
but having, on examination, found him guilty of no capital crime, and 
the prisoner himself having appealed unto Caasar, he was determined 
to send him to Rome ; but was willing to have his cause debated be- 
fore Agrippa, that he might be furnished with some material particu- 
lars to send with him ; it being highly absurd to send a prisoner with- 
out signifying the crimes alleged against him. 

Few scenes in history are more impressive than the one here de- 
picted, in which the bold apostle faces Agrippa and his royal 
attendants. For sublime courage, eloquence of speech, lordly bear- 
ing, and consummate tactj accompanied with the frank utterance of 
earnest conviction, this scene is almost unrivalled in the annals of 
Christianity. There is king Agrippa, while a man calmly faces him 
who is more than a king. There, too, is Festus, another Roman official ; 
yet, in the presence of the empire that rules the world, Paul tells his 
thrilling story, and makes his appeal to Csesar. But, in our admira- 
tion for the apostle, let us not anticipate the order of events. 

Festus having finished his speech, Agrippa told Paul he was now 
at liberty to make his own defence : and, silence being made, he de- 
livered himself in the following manner, addressing his speech par- 
ticularly to Agrippa : 

"I consider it as a peculiar happiness, king Agrippa, that I am to 
make my defence against the accusations of the Jews before thee; 
because thou art well acquainted with all their customs, and the ques- 
tions commonly debated among them : I therefore beseech thee to 
hear me patiently. All the Jews are well acquainted with my man- 
ner of life from my youth, the greatest part of it having been spent 
with mine own countrymen at Jerusalem. They also know that I 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



was educated under the institutions of the Pharisees, the strictest sect 
of our religion, and am now arraigned for a tenet believed by all their 
fathers ; a tenet sufficiently credible in itself, and plainly revealed in 
the scriptures ; I mean, the resurrection of the dead. Why should 
any mortal think it either incredible or impossible that God should 
raise the dead? I, indeed, formerly thought myself indispensably 
obliged to oppose the religion of Jesus of Nazareth. Nor was I satis- 
fied with imprisoning and punishing with death itself the saints I 
found at Jerusalem ; I even persecuted them in strange cities, whither 
my implacable zeal pursued them, having procured authority for that 
purpose from the^ chief priests and elders. Accordingly, I departed 
for Damascus, with a commission from the sanhedrim ; but, as I was 
travelling towards that city, I saw at mid -day, O king, a light from 
heaven, far exceeding the brightness of the sun, encompassing me and 
my companions. On seeing this awful appearance we all fell to the 
earth, and I heard a voice, which said to me in the Hebrew language, 
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick 
against the prick; . To which I answered, Who art thou, Lord ? 
And he replied, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest, But be not terri- 
fied, arise from the earth ; for I have appeared unto thee, that thou 
mightest be both a witness of the things thou hast seen, and also of 
others which I will hereafter reveal unto thee. My power shall de- 
liver thee from the Jews and Gentiles, to whom now I send thee to 
preach the gospel ; to withdraw the veil of darkness and ignorance ; * 
to turn them from falsehood unto truth, and from the power of Satan 
uuto God. Accordingly, king Agrippa, I readily obeyed the 
heavenly vision ; I preached the gospel first to the inhabitants of 
Damascus, then to those of Jerusalem and Judea, and afterwards to 
tlae Gentiles; persuading them to forsake their iniquities, and, by 
sincere repentance, turn to the living God. 

" These endeavors to save the souls of sinful mortals exasperated 
the Jews, who caught me in the temple, and entered into a con- 
spiracy to destroy me ; but, by the help of Omnipotence, I still remain 
a witness to all the human race, preaching nothing but what Moses 
and all the prophets foretold ; namely, that the Messiah should suffer, 
be the first that should rise from the chambers of the grave, 
and publish the glad tidings of salvation, both to the Jews and 
Gentiles." 

While the apostle thus pleaded for himself, Festus cried out, " Paul, 
thou art mad ; too much study hath deprived thee of thy reason." 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



493 



But Paul answered, " I am far, most noble Festus, from being trans- 
ported with idle and distracted ideas ; the words I speak are dictated 
by truth and sobriety ; and I am persuaded that king Agrippa him- 
self is not ignorant of these things ; for they were transacted openly 
before the world. I am confident, king Agrippa, that thou believest 
the prophets ; and therefore must know that all their predictions were 
fulfilled in Christ." To which Agrippa answered, " Thou hast almost 
persuaded me to embrace the Christian faith." And Paul replied, 
" I sincerely wish that not only thou, but also all that hear me, were 
not almost, but altogether the same as I myself, except being pris- 
oners." 

It being now fully determined that Paul should be sent to Rome, 
he was, with several other prisoners of consequence, committed to the 
care of Julius, commander of a company belonging to the legion of 
A ugustus ; and was accompanied in this voyage by St. Luke, Aris- 
tarchus, Trophimus, and some others not mentioned by the sacred 
historian. 

In the month of September, they embarked on board a ship at 
Adramyttium, and sailed to Sidon, where the centurion courteously 
gave the apostle leave to go on shore to visit his friends and refresh 
himself. After a short stay they sailed for Cyprus, and arrived oppo- 
site the Fair-Havens, a place near Myra, a city of Lycia. Here the 
season being far advanced, and Paul foreseeing it would be a danger- 
ous voyage, persuaded them to put in and winter there. But the 
Roman centurion preferring the opinion of the master of the ship, 
and the harbor being at the same time incommodious, resolved, if 
possible, to reach Phoenice, a port of Crete, and winter there ; but 
they soon found themselves disappointed, for the fine southerly gale, 
which had favored them for some time, suddenly changed into a 
stormy and tempestuous wind from the northeast, which blew with 
such violence that the ship was obliged to sail before it ; and to pre- 
vent her sinking, they threw overboard the principal part of her 
lading. 

In this desperate and uncomfortable condition they continued four- 
teen days, and on the fourteenth night the sailors, upon sounding, 
found they were near some coast, and therefore, to avoid the rocks, 
thought proper to come to an anchor till the morning might give 
them better information. 

During the time they continued at anchor, waiting for the light of 
the morning, St. Paul prevailed upon them to eat and refresh them* 



494 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 



selves, having fasted a long time, assuring them they should all 
escape. 

The country near which they were, as St. Paul had foretold, an 
island called Melita, now Malta, situated in the Libyan Sea, between 
Syracuse and Africa. Here they landed, and met with great civility 
from a barbarous people, who treated them with humanity, entertain- 
ing them with all the necessary accommodations. But while St. Paul 
was laying a few sticks on the fire, a viper, enlivened by the heat, 
came from among the wood and fastened on his hand. On seeing 
this, the inhabitants of the island concluded that he was certainly 
some notorious murderer, whom the Divine vengeance, though it suf- 
fered him to escape the sea, had reserved for a more public and solemn 
execution. But when they saw him shake off the venomous creature 
into the fire, and no manner of harm ensue, they changed their senti- 
ments, and cried out that he was a god. 

After three months' stay in this island, the centurion, with his 
charge, went on board the Castor and Pollux, a ship of Alexandria, 
bound to Italy. They put in at Syracuse, where they tarried three 
days, sailed thence to Regium, and so to Puteoli, where they landed ; 
and, finding some Christians there, staid, at their request, a week 
with them, and then set forward on their journey to Rome. The 
Christians of this city, hearing of the apostle's coming, went to meet 
him as far as Three Taverns, about thirty miles from Rome, and 
others a# far as the Apiiforum, fifty-one miles distant from the capital. 
They kindly embraced each other, and the liberty he saw the Chris- 
tians enjoy at Rome, greatly tended to enliven the spirits of the apostle. 

Having refreshed himself after the fatigue of his voyage, the apos- 
tle sent for the heads of the Jewish consistory there, and related the 
cause of his coming to them, in the following manner : " Though I 
have been guilty of no violation of the laws of our religion, yet I 
was delivered by the Jews at Jerusalem to the Roman governors, who 
more than once would have acquitted me, as innocent of any capital 
offence ; but by the perverseness of my persecutors, I was obliged to 
appeal unto Caesar. Not that I had anything to accuse my nation of. 
I had recourse to this method merely to clear my own innocency." 

Having thus removed a popular prejudice, he added, that the true 
cause of his sufferings was what their own religion had taught him, 
the belief and expectation of a future resurrection. But his discourse 
had different effects on different 1 earers, some being convinced, and 
others persisting in their infidelity. 



496 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



For two whole years Paul dwelt at Rome, in a house he had hired 
for his own use; wherein he assiduously employed himself in preach- 
ing and writing for the good of the church. Among other's of the 
apostle's converts at Rome, was one Onesirnus, who had formerly been 
a servant to Philemon, a person of distinction in Colosse, but had run 
away from his master, and fraudulently taken with him some things 
of value. 

Having rambled as far as Rome he was now converted by St. Paul, 
and by him returned to his master, with a short recommendatory let- 
ter, earnestly desiring him to pardon him ; and, notwithstanding his 
former faults, to treat him kindly, and use him as a brother, promising 
withal, that if he had wronged or owed him anything, he himself 
would repay it. 

The Christians at Philippi hearing of St. Paul's imprisonment at 
Rome, and not knowing what straits he might be reduced to, raised a 
contribution for him, and sent it by Epaphroditus, their bishop, by 
whom he returned an epistle to them. 

St. Paul had lived three years at Ephesus, preaching the gospel to 
the numerous inhabitants of that city, and was, therefore, well ac- 
quainted with the state and condition of the place, so that taking the 
opportunity of Tychicus's going thither, he wrote his Epistle to the 
Ephesians. 

St. Paul himself had never been to Colosse ; but Epaphras, who was 
then at Rome, a prisoner with him, had preached the gospel there with 
great success ; and from him he might learn that certain false teachers 
had endeavored to persuade the people that they ought not to apply to 
God by Jesus Christ, who, since his ascension, was so far exalted 
above them that angels were now become the proper mediators be- 
tween God and man, and therefore in opposition to this, as well as 
other seductions of the same nature, he wrote his Epistle to the Colos- 
sians. 

By what means St. Paul was released from imprisonment, and dis- 
charged from the accusation the Jews brought against him, we have 
no account in history ; but it is natural to suppose, that not having 
sufficient proof of what they alleged, or being informed that the crimes 
they accused him of were no violations of the Roman law, they durst 
not implead him before the emperor, and so permitted him to be dis- 
charged of course. But by whatever means he procured his liberty it 
is thought he wrote his Epistle to the Hebrews before he left Italy ^ 
from whence he dates his salutations. 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



497 



Having thus discharged his ministry, both by preaching and 
writing, in Italy, St. Paul, accompanied by Timothy, prosecuted his 
long-intended journey into Spain, and according to the testimony 
of several writers, crossed the sea, and preached the gospel in 
Britain. 

What success he had in these western parts is not known ; he, how- 
ever, continued there, eight or nine months, and then returned again 
to the East, visited Sicily, Greece, and Crete, and then repaired to 
Rome. 

Here he met with Peter, and was, together with him, thrown into 
prison, doubtless in the general persecution raised against the Chris- 
tians, under pretence that they had set fire to the city. How long he 
remained in prison is uncertain ; nor do we know whether he was 
scourged before his execution. He was, however, allowed the privi- 
lege of a Roman citizen, and therefore beheaded. 

Being come to the place of execution, which was the Salvian waters, 
three miles from Rome, he cheerfully, after a solemn preparation, 
gave his neck to the fatal stroke ; and from this vale of misery passed 
to the blissful regions of immortality, to the kingdom of his beloved 
Master, the great Redeemer of the human race. He was buried in 
the Via Ostiensis, about two miles from Rome : and about the year 
317, Constantine the Great, at the instance of Pope Sylvester, 
built a stately church over his grave, adorned it with an hundred 
marble columns, and beautified it with the most exquisite workman- 
ship. 



ST. ANDREW. 

This apostle was born at Bethsaida a city of Galilee, built on the 
banks of the lake of Genesareth, and was son to John or Jonas, a 
fisherman of that town. He was brother to Simon Peter, but 
whether older or younger is not certainly known, though the gener- 
ality of the ancients intimate that he was the younger. He was 
brought up to his father's trade, at which he labored till our blessed 
Saviour called him to be a fisher of men, for which he was, by some 
preparatory institutions, qualified even before the appearance of the 
Messiah. 

John the Baptist had lately preached the doctrine of repentance, 
32 



498 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 




SEA OF GALILEE. 



and was, by the generality of the Jews, from the impartiality of his 
precepts, and the remarkable strictness and austerity of his life held 
in great veneration. 

In the number of his followers was our apostle, who accompanied 
him beyond Jordan, when the Messiah, who had some time before 
been baptized, came that way. Upon his approach the Baptist 
pointed him out as the Messiah, styling him " the Lamb of God/' 
the true sacrifice, that was to expiate the sins of the world. As soon 
as the Baptist had given this character of Jesus, Andrew, and another 
disciple, probably St. John, followed the Saviour of mankind to the 
place of his abode. 

After some conversation with him Andrew departed, and having 
found his brother Simon, informed him that he had discovered the 
great Messiah, so long expected by the house of Jacob, and accord- 
ingly brought him to Jesus. They did not, however, stay long with 
their Master, but returned to their calling. 

Something more than a year after, Jesus passing through Galilee, 
found Andrew and Peter fishing on the sea of Galilee, where he fully 
satisfied them of the greatness and divinity of his person by a miracu- 
lous draught of fishes, which they took at his command. He now 
told them that they should enter on a different series of labors, and, 
instead of fish, tthey should, by .the efficacy and influence of their doc- 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



499 



trine upon the heart and conscience, catch men ; commanding them to 
follow him as his immediate disciples and attendants ; and accord- 
ingly they left all and followed him. 

After the ascension of the blessed Jesus into heaven, and the 
descension of the Holy Ghost on the apostles, to qualify them for 
their great undertaking, St. Andrew, according to the generality of 
ancient writers, was chosen to preach the gospel in Scythia and the 
neighboring countries. Accordingly he departed from Jerusalem, 
and first travelled through Cappadocia, Galatia, and Bythynia, in- 
structing the inhabitants in the faith of Christ, and continued his 
journey along the Euxine Sea into the deserts of Scythia. An an- 
cient author tells us that he first came to Amynsus, where, being 
entertained by a Jew, he went into the synagogue, preached to them 
concerning Jesus, and from the prophecies of the Old Testament 
proved him to be the Messiah and Saviour of the world. Having 
converted many here, he settled the times of their public meetings, 
and ordained them priests. 

He went next to Trapezium, a maritime city on the Euxine Sea-, 
from whence, after visiting many other places, he came to Nice, 
where he staid two years, preaching and working miracles with great 
success. After leaving Nice he passed to Nicomedia, and from thence 
to Chalcedon, whence he sailed through the Propontis, afterwards to 
Amastris. In all these places he met with the greatest difficulties, 
but overcame them by invincible patience and resolution. 

He next came to Sinope, a city situated on the same sea, and famous 
both for the birth and burial of king Mithridates. Here he met with 
his brother Peter, and staid with him a considerable time. 

The inhabitants of Sinope were mostly Jews, who, partly from a 
zeal for their religion, and partly from their barbarous manners, were 
exasperated against St. Andrew, and entered into a confederacy to 
burn the house in which he lodged. But being disappointed in their 
design, they treated him with the most savage cruelty, throwing him 
on the ground, stamping upon him with their feet, pulling and drag- 
ging him from place to place ; some beating him with clubs, some 
pelting him with stones, and others, to satisfy their brutal revenge, 
biting off his fbsh with their teeth ; till, apprehending they had en- 
tirely deprived him of life, they cast him out into the fields. But 
he miraculously recovered, and returned publicly into the city ; by 
which, and other miracles he wrought among them, many were con- 
verted from the error of their ways, and induced to become disciples 
of the blessed Jesus. 



500 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



Departing from Sinope, he returned to Jerusalem. But lie did not 
continue long in his native country, returning again to the province 
allotted him for the exercise of his ministry, which greatly flourished 
through the power of the divine grace that attended it. 

He travelled over Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, Achaia, and Epirus, 
preaching the gospel, propagating Christianity, then confirming the 
doctrine he taught with sio-ns and miracles. At last he came to Pete, 
a city of Achaia, where he gave his last and greatest testimony to the 
gospel of his divine Master, sealing it with his blood. 

iEgenas, pro-consul of Achaia, came at this time to Petrse, where, 
observing that multitudes had abandoned the heathen religion and 
embraced the gospel of Christ, he had recourse to every method, both 
of favor and cruelty, to reduce the people to their old idolatry. The 
apostle, whom no difficulties or dangers could deter from performing 
the duties of his ministry, addressed himself to the pro-consul, 
calmly put him in mind that, being only a judge of men, he ought 
to revere him who was the supreme and impartial Judge of all, pay 
him the divine honors due to his exalted majesty, and abandon the 
impieties of his idolatrous worship; observing to him, that if he 
would renounce his idolatries, and heartily embrace the Christian 
faith, he should, with him and the members who had believed in the 
Son of God, receive eternal happiness in the Messiah's kingdom. 
The pro-consul answered, that he himself should never embrace the 
religion he mentioned; and that the only reason why he was so earnest 
with him to sacrifice to the gods was, that those whom he had every- 
where seduced, might, by his example, be brought back to the ancient 
religion they had forsaken. The apostle replied, that he saw it was 
in vain to endeavor to persuade a person incapable of sober counsels, 
and hardened in his own blindness and folly ; that, with regard to 
himself, he might act as he pleased, and if he had any torment greater 
than another, he might heap that upon him, as, the greater constancy 
he showed in his sufferings for Christ, the more acceptable he should 
be to his Lord and Master. iEgenas could hold no longer, and after 
treating him with very opprobrious language, and showing him the 
most distinguished marks of contempt, he passed sentence on him that 
he should be put to death. He first ordered him to be scourged, 
seven lictors successively whipping his naked body ; and seeing his 
invincible patience and constancy, commanded him to be crucified ; 
but to be fastened to the cross with cords instead of nails, that his 
death might be more lingering and tedious. As he was led to the 



AND HOLY WOMEX. 



501 



place of execution, walking with a cheerful and composed mind, the 
people cried out, that a good and innocent man was unjustly con- 
demned to die. On his coming near the cross, he saluted it in the 
following manner : " I have long desired and expected this happy 
hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging 
on it, and adorned with his members as with so many inestimable 
jewels. I therefore come joyfully and triumphing to it, that it may 
receive me as a disciple and follower of him who once hung upon it, 
and be the means of carrying me safe to my Master, being the instru- 
ment on which he redeemed me." After offering up his prayers to 
the throne of grace, and exhorting the people to constancy and perse- 
verance in the faith he had delivered to them, he was fastened to the 
cross, on which he hung two whole days, teaching and instructing the 
people. In the meantime great interest was made to the pro-consul 
to spare his life ; but the apostle earnestly begged of the Almighty^ 
that he might now depart, and seal the truth of his religion with his 
blood. His prayers were heard, and he expired, it is said, on the 
last day of November, but in what year is uncertain. 

There seems to have been something peculiar in the form of the 
cross on which he suifered, and it is commonly thought to have been 
a cross decussate, or two pieces of timber crossing each other in the 
centre, in the form of the letter X, and hence usually known by the 
name of St Andrew's cross. 

His body being taken down from the cross, was decently and hon- 
orably interred by Maximillia, a lady of great quality and estate, and 
w r ho, Xicephorus tells us, was wife to the pro-consul. 

Constantine the Great afterwards removed his body to Constanti- 
nople, and buried it in the srreat church he had' built to the honor of 
the apostles ; but this structure being taken down some hundred years 
after, in order to rebuild it, by Justinian, the emperor, the body of St. 
Andrew was found in a wooden coffin, and again deposited in its 
proper place. 



ST. JAMES THE GREAT. 

This apostle, who was surnamed the Great, by way of distinction 
from another of that name, was the son of Zebedee, and by trade 
a fisherman, to which he applied himself with remarkable assiduity 3 



502 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



and was exercising his employment when the Saviour of the world, 
passing by the Sea of Galilee, saw him with his brother in the ship, 
and called them both to be his disciples. Nor was the call in vain ; 
they cheerfully complied with it, and immediately left all to follow 
him ; readily delivering themselves up to perform whatever service he 
should appoint them. 

Soon after this he was called, from the station of an ordinary dis- 
ciple, to the apostolical office, and even honored with some particular 
favors beyond most of the apostles, being one of the three whom our 
Lord made choice of as his companions in the more intimate transac- 
tions of this life, from which the rest were excluded. Thus, with 
Peter and his brother John, he attended his Master when he raised 
the daughter of Jairus from the dead. He was admitted to Christ's 
glorious transfiguration on the Mount; and when the holy Jesus 
was to undergo his bitter agonies in the garden, as preparatory suffer- 
ings to his passion, James was one of the three taken to be a spectator 
of them. Nor was it the least instance of that particular honor our 
Lord conferred on these apostles, that at his calling them to the apos- 
tleship, he gave them a new name and title : Simon he called Peter, 
or a rock, and James and John, who were brothers, Boanerges, or the 
sons of thunder. 

Some think that this name was given them on account of their loud 
and bold preaching the gospel to the world, fearing no threatenings, 
despising all opposition, and going on thundering in the ears of a 
drowsy and sleepy world ; rousing and awakening the consciences of 
men with the earnestness and vehemence of their preaching, which re 
sembled thunder, as the voice of God powerfully shakes the natura 
world, and breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. Others think it 
relates to the doctrines they delivered, teaching the great mysteries 
and promulgating the gospel in a more profound and lofty strain than 
the rest. 

But however this be, our blessed Saviour, doubtless, alluded by this 
term, to the naturally furious and resolute disposition of these two 
brothers, who seem to have been of a more fiery temper than the rest 
of the apostles, of which we have this memorable instance. When 
our Lord Avas determined on his journey to Jerusalem, he sent some 
of his disciples before him to make preparations for his coming ; but 
on their entering a village of Samaria, they were rudely rejected, from 
the old grudge that subsisted between the Samaritans and Jews ; and 
because our Saviour, by going up to Jerusalem, seemed to slight their 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



503 



place of worship on Mount Gerizim. This piece of rudeness and in- 
humanity was so highly resented by St. James and his brother, that 
they came to Jesus desiring to know if he would not imitate Eiias, by 
calling down fire from heaven to consume this barbarous, inhospitable 
people. — Thus we find that the best of men are but men, and that 
corrupt nature will sometimes appear even in renewed minds. But 
the holy Jesus soon convinced them of 'their mistake, by telling them, 
that instead of destroying, he was come to save the lives of the chil- 
dren of men. 

Sophronius tells us, that after the ascension of the blessed Jesus, 
this apostle preached to the dispersed Jews, that is, to those converts 
who were dispersed after the death of Stephen. The Spanish writers 
affirm, that after preaching the gospel in several parts of Judea and 
Samaria, he visited Spain, where he planted Christianity, and ap- 
pointed some select disciples to perfect what he had begun ; but if we 
consider the shortness of St. James's life, and that the apostles con- 
tinued in a body at Jerusalem, even after the dispersion of the other 
Christians, we shall find it difficult to allow time sufficient for so 
tedious and difficult a voyage as that was in those early ages ; and 
therefore it is safest to confine his ministry to Judea and the adjacent 
countries. 

Herod, who was a bigot to the Jewish religijn, as well as desirous 
of acquiring the favor of the Jews, began a violent persecution of the 
Christians, and his zeal against them animated him to pass sentence 
of death on St. James immediately. 

As he was led to the place of execution, the officer that guarded 
him to the tribunal, or rather his accuser, having been converted by 
that remarkable courage and constancy shown by the apostle at the 
time of his trial, repented of what he had done, came and fell down 
at the apostle's feet, and heartily begged pardon for what he had said 
against him. The holy man, after recovering from the surprise, 
tenderly embraced him. " Peace," said he, " my son, peace be unto 
thee, and pardon of thy faults." Upon which the officer publicly 
declared himself a Christian, and both were beheaded at the same 
time. Thus fell the great apostle St. James, being the first who 
gained the crown ; and taking cheerfully that cup of which he had 
long since told his Lord he was ready to drink. 



504 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 



ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST. 

From the very minute and circumstantial account this evangelist 
gives of John the Baptist, he is supposed to have been one of his 
followers, and is thought to be that other disciple, who, in the frrst 
chapter of his gospel, is said to have been present with Andrew when 
John declared Jesus to be " the Lamb of God," and thereupon to 
have followed him to the place of his abode. 

He was by much the youngest of the apostles, yet he was admitted 
into as great a share of his Master's confidence as any of them. He 
was one of those to whom he communicated the most private trans- 
actions of his life; one of those whom he took with him when he 
raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead ; one of those to whom he 
displayed a specimen of his divinity, in his transfiguration on the 
Mount ; one of those who were present at his conference with Moses 
and Elias, and heard that voice which declared him the beloved Son 
of God ; and one of those who were companions in his solitude, most 
retired devotions, and bitter agonies in the garden. 

These instances of particular favor our apostle endeavored, in some 
measures, to answer, by returns of particular kindness and constancy. 
For though he at first deserted his Master on his apprehension, yet 
he soon recovered himself, and came back to see his Saviour, confi- 
dently entered the high priest's hall, followed our Lord through the 
several particulars of his trial, and at last waited on him at his execu- 
tion, owning him, as well as being owned by him, in the midst of 
armed soldiers, and in the thickest crowds of his most inveterate ene- 
mies. Here it was that our great Redeemer committed to his care his 
sorrowful and disconsolate mother, with his dying breath ; and cer- 
tainly the holy Jesus could not have given a more honorable testi- 
mony of his particular respect and kindness to St. John, than by leav- 
ing his own mother to his trust and care, and substituting him to 
supply that duty he himself paid her while he resided in this vale of 
sorrow. 

After the ascension of the Saviour of the world, when the apostles 
made a division of the provinces among themselves, that of Asia fell 
to the share of St. John, though he did not immediately enter upon 
his charge, but continued at Jerusalem till the death of the blessed 
Virgin, which might be about fifteen years after our Lord's ascension. 
Being released from the trust committed to his care by his dying 




505 



506 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 




THE XEW JERUSALEM. 



Master, he retired into Asia, and industriously applied himself to the 
propagation of Christianity, preaching where the gospel had not yet 
been known, and confirming it where it was already planted. Many 
churches of note and eminence were founded by him, particularly 
those of Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, 
and others ; but his chief place of residence was at Ephesus, where 
St. Paul had, many years before, founded a church, and constituted 
Timothy bishop of it. 

After spending several years at Ephesus, he was accused to Domi- 
tian, who had begun a persecution against the Christians, as an emi- 
nent asserter of atheism and impiety, and a public subverter of the 
religion of the empire; so that, by his command, the pro-consul sent 
him bound to Rome, where he met with the treatment that might 
have been expected from so barbarous a prince, being thrown into a 
cauldron of boiling oil. But the Almighty, who reserved him for 
further services in the vineyard of his Son, restrained the heat, as he 
did in the fiery furnace of old, and delivered him from this seemingly 
unavoidable destruction. And surely one would have thought that 
so miraculous a deliverance should have been sufficient to have per- 
suaded any rational man that the religion he taught was from God, 
and that he was protected from danger by the hand of Omnipotence. 
But miracles themselves were not sufficient to convince this cruel 




507 



508 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 



emperor, or abate his fury. He ordered St. John to be transported 
to an almost desolate island in the Archipelago, called Patmos, 
where he continued several years, instructing the poor inhabitants 
in the knowledge of the Christian faith ; and here, about the 
end of Domitian's reign, he wrote his book of Revelations, ex- 
hibiting, by visions and prophetical representations, the state 
and condition of Christianity in the future periods and ages of 
the church. 

Upon the death of Domitian, and the succession of Nerva, who 
repealed all the odious acts of his predecessor, and, by public edicts, 
recalled those whom the fury of Domitian had banished, St. John 
returned to Asia, and fixed his seat again at Ephesus, the rather be- 
cause the people of that city had lately martyred Timothy, their 
bishop. Here, with the assistance of seven other bishops, he took 
upon himself the government of the large diocese of Asia Minor, and 
disposed of the clergy in the best manner that the circumstances of 
those times would permit, spending his time in an indefatigable exe- 
cution of his charge, travelling from east to west to instruct the world 
in the principles of the holy religion he was sent to propagate. 

In this manner St. John continued to labor in the vineyard of his 
great Master until death put a period to all his toils and sufferings, 
which happened in the beginning of Trajan's reign, in the ninety- 
eighth year of his age, and, according to Eusebius, his remains were 
buried near Ephesus. 

St. John seems always to have led a single life; though some of the 
ancients tell us he was a married man. He was polished by no study 
or arts of learning, but what was wanting from human art was abun- 
dantly supplied by the excellent faculties of his mind, and that fullness 
of divine grace with which he was adorned. His humility was ad- 
mirable, studiously concealing his own honor : for, in his epistles, he 
never styles himself either apostle or evangelist; the title of presbyter, 
or elder, is all he assumes, and probably in regard to his age as much 
as his office. In his gospel, when he speaks of " the disciple whom 
Jesus loved," he constantly conceals his own name, leaving the reader 
to discover whom he meant. Love and charity he practised himself, 
and affectionately pressed them upon others. The great love of his 
Saviour towards him seems to have inspired his soul with a larger 
and more generous charity than the rest. This is the great vein that 
runs through all his writings, especially his epistles, where he urges 
it as the great and peculiar law of Christianity, and without which 




509 



510 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



all other pretences to the religion of the holy Jesus are vain and 
frivolous, useless and insignificant. And this was his constant prac- 
tise to the very hour of his dissolution ; for, when age and the decays 
of nature had rendered him so weak that he was unable to preach to 
the people any longer, tradition says, he was constantly led, at every 
public meeting, to the church at Ephesus, and always repeated to 
them the same precept, " Little children, love one another;" and 
when his hearers, wearied with the constant repetition of the same 
thing, asked him why he never varied his discourse, he answered, 
"Because to love one another was the command of our blessed 
Saviour, and consequently one grand guide of our conduct through 
life, he that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is no 
occasion of stumbling in him; but he that hateth his brother, is in 
darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he 
goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes." 

The greatest instance of our apostle's care for the souls of men is 
the writings he left to posterity. The first of which in time, though 
placed last in the sacred canon, is his Apocalypse, or book of Rev- 
elations, which he wrote during his banishment to the isle of 
Patmos. 

Next to the Apocalypse, in order of time, are his three Epistles, the 
first of which is catholic, calculated for all times and places, containing 
the most excellent rules for the conduct of a Christian life, pressing to 
holiness and pureness of manners, and not to be satisfied with a naked 
and empty profession of religion, not to be led aAvay with the crafty 
insinuations of seducers, and cautioning men against the poisonous 
principles and practices of the Gnostics. The apostle here, according 
to his usual modesty, conceals his name, it being of more consequence 
to a wise man what is said than he who says it. It appears from St. 
Augustine tha£ this Epistle was anciently inscribed to the Parthians, 
because, in all probability, St. John preached the gospel in Parthia. 
The other two Epistles are but short, and directed to particular per- 
sons ; the one to a lady of great quality, the other to the charitable 
and hospitable Gains, the kindest and the most courteous entertainer 
of all indigent Christians. 

Before he undertook the task of writing his gospel he caused a gen- 
eral fast to be kept by all the Asiatic churches, to implore the blessing 
of Heaven on so great and momentous an undertaking. When this 
was done he set about the work, and completed it in so excellent and 
sublime a manner, that the ancients generally compared him to an 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



511 



eagle soaring aloft among the clouds, whither the weak eye of man 
was not able to follow him. " Among all the evangelical writers," 
says St. Basil, " none are like St. John, the son of thunder, for the 
sublimity of his speech, and the height of his discourses, which are 
beyond any man's capacity fully to reach and comprehend." " St. 
John, as a true son of thunder," says Epiphanius, " by a loftiness of 
speech peculiar to himself, acquaints us, as it were, out of the clouds 
and dark recesses of wisdom, with the divine doctrine of the Son of 
God." 



ST. PHILIP. 

This apostle was a native of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and 
Peter. He had the honor of being first called to be a disciple of the 
great Messiah, which happened in the following manner : Our blessed 
Saviour soon after his return from the wilderness, where he had been 
tempted by the devil, met with Andrew and his brother Peter, and 
after some discourse parted from them. The next day, as he was 
passing through Galilee, he found Philip, whom he presently com- 
manded to follow him, the constant form he made use of in calling his 
disciples, and those that inseparably attended him. So that the pre- 
rogative of being first called evidently belongs to St. Philip, he being 
the first of our Lord's disciples; for though Andrew and Peter were 
the first that came and conversed with the Saviour of the world, yet 
they immediately returned to their occupation, and were not called till 
a whole year after. 

It cannot be doubted, that notwithstanding St. Philip was a native 
of Galilee, yet he was excellently skilled in the law and the prophets. 
Metaphrastes assures us, that he had, from his childhood, been excel- 
lently educated ; that he frequently read over the books of Moses, and 
attentively considered the prophecies relating to the coming of the 
Messiah. 

Nor was our apostle idle after the honor he had received of being 
called to attend the Saviour of the world ; he immediately imparted 
the glad tidings of the Messiah's appearance to his brother Nathanael, 
and conducted him to his beloved Saviour. 

After his being called to the apostolate, we have very little recorded 
of him by the evangelists. It was, however, to him that our Saviour 



512 



LI YES OF THE APOSTLES 



proposed the question, as to where they should find bread sufficient to 
satisfy the hunger of so great a multitude. Philip answered, that it 
was not easy to procure so great a quantity ; not considering that it 
was equally easy for Almighty Power to feed double the number, 
when it should be his divine will. It was also to the same apostle 
that the Gentile proselytes, who came up to worship at Jerusalem, ap- 
plied, when they were desirous to see the Saviour of the world. And 
it was with him our Lord had the discourse a little before the paschal 
supper, recorded by St. John. 

The compassionate Jesus had been fortifying their minds with 
proper considerations against his departure from them, and had told 
them that he was going to prepare for them a place in the mansions 
of the heavenly Canaan; that he was " the way, the truth, and the 
life ; that no man could come to the Father but by him ;" Philip, not 
thoroughly understanding the force of his Master's reasoning, begged 
of him that he would show them the Father. Our blessed Lord 
gently reproved his ignorance, that after attending so long to his in- 
structions, he should not know that he was the image of his Father, 
the express character of his infinite wisdom, power, and goodness ap- 
pearing in him; that he said and did nothing but by his Father's ap- 
pointment, which, if they did not believe, his miracles were a suffi- 
cient evidence : that such demands were, therefore, unnecessary and 
impertinent; and that it was an indication of great weakness in him, 
after three years' education under his discipline and instruction, to 
appear so ignorant with regard to these particulars. 

The ancients tell us, that in the distribution made by the apostles 
of the several regions of the world, the Upper Asia fell to his share, 
where he labored with an indefatigable diligence and industry. By 
the constancy and power of his preaching, and the efficacy of his mira- 
cles, he gained numerous converts, whom he baptized into the Chris- 
tian faith, curing at once their bodies of infirmities and distempers, 
and their souls of errors and idolatry. He continued with them a 
considerable time in settling churches, and appointing them guides 
and ministers of religion. 

After several years successfully exercising his apostolical office in 
all those parts, he came at last to Hierapolis, in Phrygia, a city re^ 
markably rich and populous, but at the same time overrun with th« 
most enormous idolatry. 

St. Philip being grieved to see the people so wretchedly enslaved 
by error and superstition, continually offered his addresses to Heuven, 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



513 




JACOB'S WELL. 



till by his prayers and often ealling on the name of Christ, he pro 
cured the dea"th, or, at least, the vanishing of an enormous serpent, to 

^tf£SS their deity, he demonstrated to them Jg 

the world, who, in the beginning, made , man 
"ft « hi glorions image, and when fallen from that jnnocent and 
C statue, sent h. own Son intone 

.order to perform this glomus work h « to 
; again from the dead, and at the end of the jridw^ £ 
; raise all the sons of men from the chambers of ^ 
,them to everlasting rewards and pun.shments Th,s d sco 
,them from their lethargy ; they were ashamed of the.r 
and great numbers embraced the doctrines of the S^- 

Th g is provoked the great enemy of mankind 
io his old methods-cruelty and persecution, lhe rnagist 
33 



514 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



city seized the apostle, and, having thrown him into prison, caused 
iiim to be scourged. When this preparatory cruelty was over, he was 
led to execution, and being bound, was hanged against a pillar; or, 
according to others, crucified. The apostle being dead, his body was 
taken down by St. Bartholomew, his fellow-laborer in the gospel, and 
Mariamne, St. Philip's sister, the constant companion of his travels, 
and decently buried ; after which they confirmed the people in the 
faith of Christ, and departed from them. 



ST. BARTHOLOMEW. 

Tins apostle is mentioned amongst the twelve immediate disciples 
of our Lord, under the appellation of Bartholomew, though it is evi- 
dent, from divers passages of scripture, that he was also called 
Nathauael ; we shall, therefore, in our account of his life, consider the 

names of Nathanael and Bartholomew as belonging to one and the 

— — 

same person. 

With regard to his descent and family, some are of opinion that he 
was a Syrian, and that he w r as descended from the Ptolemies of 
Egypt. But it is plain, from the evangelical history, that he was a 
Galilean, St. John having expressly told us that Nathanael was of 
Cana, in Galilee. 

The scripture is silent with regard to his trade and manner of 
life, though, from some circumstances, there is room to imagine that he 
was a fisherman. He was, at his first coming to Christ, conducted by 
Philip, who told him they had now found the long-expected Messiah, 
so often foretold by Moses and the prophets, " J esus of Nazareth, the 
son of Joseph." And when he objected, that the Messiah could not 
be born at Nazareth, Philip desired him to come and satisfy himself 
that he was the Messiah. 

At his approach, our blessed Saviour saluted him with this honora- 
ble appellation, that he was an " Israelite indeed, in whom there was 
no guile." Not as possessed by nature, but as obtained by grace ; 
for such perfection cannot be attached to human nature, but in the 
character of the blessed Jesus, of whom it is said, with peculiar pro- 
priety, that he was " holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners; 
also, that he knew no sin, neither was guile," that is, fraud nor decep* 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



515 



tion, found in his tongue. Our Saviour knew that Bartholomew's 
doubt of his Messiahship arose from Philip's announcing him in the 
character of Jesus of Nazareth, a place stigmatized for the vices of 
its inhabitants ; which, on a similar occasion, caused an interrogatory, 
which accords with Bartholomew's opinion, " Can any good come out 
*)f Nazareth ?" In this, therefore, he appeared to be a true Israelite, 
one that waited for redemption in Israel, which, from the times men- 
tioned in the scripture predictions, he knew to be near at hand. 

He was greatly surprised at our Lord's salutation, wondering how 
he could know him at first sight, thinking he had never before seen 
his face. But he was answered, that he had seen him while he was 
yet under the fig-tree, even before Philip called him. Convinced by 
this instance of our Lord's divinity, he presently made this confession, 
that he was now sure that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the Son 
of God, whom he had appointed to govern his church. Our blessed 
Saviour told him, that if from this instance he could believe him to 
be the Messiah, he should have far greater arguments to confirm his 
faith : for that he should hereafter behold the heavens opened to receive 
him, and the angels visibly appearing to attend his triumphant en- 
trance into the heavenly Canaan. 

Each of the apostles had his own peculiarities and his own field of 
labor. They were most unlike in disposition and ability. How dif- 
ferent the mild, sweet-tempered, beloved John from impulsive, stormy 
Peter! There are diversities of gifts although only one spirit. Bar- 
tholomew was not the loftiest mountain-peak; the morning sun did 
not strike him first. Others, like James and John and Peter, moved 
with more force and shook the earth moie heavilv, but in patience, 
laborious endeavor, and missionary zeal he .proved himself worthy of 
the name he bore. Thus every man lias his influence, and in due time 
will find his field of usefulness. 

Our apostle, having his peculiar spot alio ted him for the promul- 
gation of the gospel of his blessed Master, (who had now ascended 
into heaven, and dispensed his Holy Spirit to fit and qualify his dis- 
ciples for the important work,) visited different parts of the world to 
preach the gospel, and penetrated as far as the higher India. 

After spending a considerable time in India and the eastern ex- 
tremities of Asia, he returned to the northern and western parts, and 
we find him at Hierapolis, in Phrygia, laboring, in concert with 
St. Philip, to plant Christianity in those parts, and to convince the 
blind idolaters of the evil of their ways, and direct them in the paths 
that lead to eternal salvation. This enraged the bigoted magistrates, 



516 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



and he was, together with St. Paul, designed for martyrdom, and in 
order to this fastened to a cross. But their consciences pricking them 
for a time — they took him immediately down from the cross and set 
him at liberty. 

From hence he retired into Lyaconia, and St. Chrysostom assures 
us that he instructed and trained up the inhabitants in the Christian 
discipline. His last remove was to Albanople, in Great Armenia, a 
place miserably overrun with idolatry, from which he labored to re- 
claim the people. But his endeavors to " turn them from darkness 
unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God/' were so far from 
having the desired effect, that it provoked the magistrates, who pre- 
vailed on the governor to put him to death, which he cheerfully un- 
derwent, sealing the truth of the doctrine he had preached with his 
blood. 



ST. MATTHEW. 

St. Matthew, called also Levi, though a Roman officer, was a 
true Hebrew, and probably a Galilean. His trade was that of a pub- 
lican, or tax-gatherer to the Romans — an office detested by the gen- 
erality of the Jews, on two accounts. First, because, having formed 
the custom of the Romans, they used every method of oppression in 
order to pay their rents to them ; secondly, because they demanded 
tribute of the Jews, who considered themselves as a free people, hav- 
ing received that privilege from God himself. And hence they had 
a common proverb among them, " Take not a wife out of that family 
in which there is a publican, for they are all publicans." That is, 
they are all thieves, robbers, and notorious sinners. And to this 
speech, and proverbial custom, our blessed Saviour alludes, when, 
speaking of an hardened sinner on whom neither private reproofs, nor 
the public censures and admonitions of the church can prevail, " Let 
him be to thee as an heathen man and a publican." 

Our blessed Saviour having cured a person long afflicted with the 
palsy, retired out of Capernaum, to walk by the sea-side, where he 
taught the people that flocked after him. 

Here he saw Matthew sitting in his office, and called him to follow 
him. The man was rich, had a large and profitable employment, 
was a wise and prudent person, and doubtless understood what would 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



51t 



be his loss to comply with the call of Jesus. He was not ignorant 
that he must exchange wealth for poverty, a custom-house for a 
prison, and rich and powerful masters for a naked and despised 
Saviour. But he overlooked all these considerations, left all his inter- 
est and relations, to become our Lord's disciple, and to embrace a 
more spiritual way of living. 

The Pharisees, who sought all opportunities of raising objections 
against the doctrine of the blessed Jesus, took this opportunity of sug- 
gesting to his disciples, that it was highly unbecoming, so pure and 
holy a person as their Master pretended himself to be, to converse so 
familiarly with the worst of men, with publicans and sinners, persons 
infamous to a proverb. But he presently replied to them, that these 
were the sick, and therefore needed the physician ; that his company 
was of most consequence, where the souls of men most required it ; 
that God preferred works of mercy and charity, especially in doing 
good to the souls of men, infinitely above all ritual observances; 
and that the principal design of his coming into the world was 
not to call the righteous, or those who, like themselves, vainly pre- 
tend to be so, but sinners — humble, self-convinced sinners — to repent- 
ance. 

After St. Matthew's election to the apostolate, he continued with 
the rest till the ascension of his great and beloved Master ; but the 
evangelical writers have recorded nothing particular concerning him 
during that period. 

After our blessed Saviour's ascension into heaven, St. Matthew, 
for the first eight years, at least, preached in different parts of Judea; 
but afterwards, lie left the country of Palestine to convert the Gentile 
world. Before his departure, he was entreated by the Jewish con- 
verts to write the history of the life and actions of the blessed Jesus, 
and leave it among them as a standing monument of what he had so 
often delivered to them in his sermons. This he readily complied 
with, as we shall more particularly mention in giving an account of 
his gospel. 

After his leaving Judea he travelled into several parts, especially 
Ethiopia, but the particular places he visited are not known with 
any certainty. However, after laboring indefatigably in the vine- 
yard of his Master, he suffered martyrdom at a city of Ethiopia, 
called Naddabar: but by what kind of death is not absolutely 
known ; though the general opinion is, that he was slain with an 
halbert. 



518 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



The last thing we shall remark in the life of this apostle is hi» 
gospel, written at the entreaty of the Jewish converts, while he abode 
in Palestine ; but at what time is uncertain ; some believe it to have 
been written eight, some fifteen, and some thirty years after our Lord's 
ascension. It was first written in Hebrew ; but soon after translated 
into Greek by one of the disciples. 

After the Greek translation was admitted, the Hebrew copy was 
chiefly owned and used by the Nazarsei, a middle sect between Jews 
and Christians ; with the former, they adhered to the rites and cere- 
monies of the Mosaic law, and with the latter they believed in Christ, 
and embraced his religion • and hence this gospel has been styled, 
" The Gospel according to the Hebrews," and " The Gospel of the 
Nazarenes." 



ST. THOMAS. 

Evangelical history is entirely silent with regard either to the 
country or kindred of St. Thomas. It is, however, certain that he 
was a Jew, and in all probability a Galilean. 

He was, together with the rest called to the apostleship, and not 
long after gave an eminent instance of his being ready to undergo the 
most melancholy fate that might attend him. For when the rest of 
the apostles dissuaded their Master from going into Judea, at the 
time of Lazarus's death, because the Jews lately endeavored to stone 
him, Thomas desired them not to hinder his journey thither, though 
it might cost them all their lives. "Let us go," said he, "that we 
may die with him concluding that instead of Lazarus being raised 
from the dead, they should all, like him, be placed in the chambers 
of the dust. 

When the holy Jesus, a little before his sufferings, had been speak- 
ing to them of the joys of heaven, and had told them that he was 
going to prepare mansions for them, that they might follow him, and 
that they knew both the place whither he was going, and the way 
thither; our apostle replied, that they knew not whither he was going 
much less the way that would lead them thither. To which our Lord 
returned this short but satisfactory answer, " I am the way." I am 
the person whom the Father hath sent into the world, to show man- 
kind the paths that lead to eternal life, and therefore you cannot miss 
the way if you follow my example. 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



519 



After the disciples bad seen their great Master expire on the cross, 
their minds were distracted by hopes and fears concerning his resur- 
rection, about which they were not then fully satisfied, which en- 
gaged him the sooner to hasten his appearance, that by the sensible 
manifestations of himself he might put the matter beyond all possi- 
bility of dispute. Accordingly, the very day in which he arose from 
the dead, he came into the house where they were assembled, while, 
for fear of the Jews, the doors about them were close shut, and gave 
them sufficient assurance that he was risen from the dead. At this 
meeting Thomas was absent, having probably never rejoined their 
company since their dispersion in the garden, where every one's fears 
prompted him to consult his own safety. At his return they told him 
that the Lord had appeared to them, but he obstinately refused to give 
credit to what they said, or to believe that it was really he, presuming 
it rather a spectre, or apparition, unless he might see the very print 
of the nails, and feel the wounds in his hands and side. 

But our compassionate Saviour would not take the least notice of 
his perverse obstinacy, but on that day seven-night came again to 
them, as they were solemnly met for their devotions, and calling to 
Thomas, bade him look upon his hands, put his fingers into the print 
of the nails, and thrust his hand into his side, to satisfy his faith by 
a demonstration from the senses. Thomas was soon convinced of his 
error and obstinacy, confessing that he now acknowledged him to be 
his Lord and Master, saying, " My Lord and my God." Our Lord 
answered, that it was happy for him that he believed the testimony 
of his own senses ; but that it would have been more commendable in 
him to have believed without seeing, because it was foretold that the 
Son of God should burst the chains of death, and rise again from the 
dead. 

The reputation of Thomas has suffered on account of his action on 
this occasion. He has always had the name of being a doubter, and 
it must be admitted that he gave good ground for being so considered. 
It will not do, however, to overlook the peculiar characteristics of this 
man's mind. He was one of those who require to know the reason 
of everything, the why and wherefore. Having obtained satisfactory 
evidence, he was firm in his belief. On several occasions he showed 
his loyalty to Christ, and proved himself worthy to be numbered 
among the holy apostles. 

Our great Redeemer having, according to promise before his ascen- 
sion, poured an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Ghost upon the 
disciples, to qualify them for the L r reat work of preaching the gospel, 



520 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



St. Thomas, as- well as the rest, preached the gospel in several parts 
of Judea ; and after the dispersion of the Christian church in Jerusa- 
lem, repaired into Parthia, the province assigned him for his ministry. 
After which, as Sempronius and others inform us, he preached the 
gospel to the Medes, Persians, Carminians, Hyrcani, Bactarians, and 
the neighboring nations. During his preaching in Persia he is said 
to have met with the magi, or wise men, who had taken that long 
journey at our Saviour's birth to worship him whom he baptized, 
and took with him as his companions and assistants in propagating 
the gospel. 

Leaving Persia, he travelled into Ethiopia, preaching the glad tid- 
ings of the gospel, healing their sick, and working other miracles, to 
prove he had his commission from on high; and after travelling 
through these countries, he entered India. 

When the Portuguese first visited these countries, after their dis- 
covery of a passage by the Cape of Good Hope, they received the fol- 
lowing particulars, partly from constant and uncontro verted tradi- 
tions, preserved by the Christians in those parts; namely, that St. 
Thomas came first to Socotora, an island in the Arabian Sea, and 
thence to Cranganor, where having converted many from the error of 
their ways, he travelled further into the East; and having successfully 
preached the gospel returned back to the kingdom of Coromandel, 
where at Meliapur, the metropolis of the kingdom, not far from the 
mouth of the Ganges, he began to erect a place for divine worship, 
till prohibited by the idolatrous priests and Sagamo, prince of that 
country. But after performing several miracles, the work was suf- 
fered to proceed, and Sagamo himself embraced the Christian faith, 
whose example was soon followed by great numbers of his friends and 
subjects. 

This remarkable success alarmed the Brahmins, who plainly per- 
ceived that their religion would be soon extirpated, unless some 
method could be found of putting a stop to the progress of Chris- 
tianity, and therefore resolved to put the apostle to death. At a small 
distance from the city was a tomb, whither St. Thomas often retired 
for private devotion. Hither the Brahmins and their armed follow- 
ers pursued him, and while he was at prayer they first shot at him a 
shower of darts, after which one of the priests ran him through with 
a lance. 

His body was taken up by his disciples, and buried in the church 
he had lately erected, and which was afterwards improved into a 
fabric of great magnificence. 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



521 



St. Chrysostom says that St. Thomas, who at first was the weakest 
and most incredulous of all the apostles, became, through Christ's 
condescending to satisfy his scruples, and the power of the Divine 
grace, the most active and invincible of them all ; travelling over 
most parts of the world, and living without fear in the midst of bar- 
barous nations ; through the efficacy of that Almighty arm, which 
can give power to the faint, and to them that have no might, and 
thus make the weakest vessels to perform acts of the greatest difficulty 
and moment. 



ST. JAMES THE LESS. 

It has been doubted by some, whether this was the same with that 
St. James who was afterwards bishop of Jerusalem, two of this name 
being mentioned in the sacred writings, namely, St. James the Great 
and St. James the Less, both apostles. The ancients mention a third, 
surnamed the Just, which they will have to be distinct from the 
former, and bishop of Jerusalem. But this opinion is built on a 
sandy foundation, for nothing is plainer than that St. James the 
apostle, whom St. Paul calls our Lord's brother, and reckons, with 
Peter and John, one of the pillars of the church, was the same who 
presided among the apostles, doubtless by virtue of his episcopal 
office, and determined the causes in the synod of Jerusalem. It is 
reasonable to think that he was the son of Joseph, afterwards the 
husband of Mary, by his first wife, whom St. Jerome styles Escha, 
and adds, that she was the daughter of Aggi, brother to Zacharias, 
the father of John the Baptist. Hence he was reputed our Lord's 
brother. We find, indeed, several mentioned as the brethren of our 
Saviour in the evangelical history, but in what sense, was greatly 
controverted by the ancients. St. Jerome, St. Chrysostom, and some 
others, will have them to be so-called from their being the sons of 
Mary, cousin-german, or, according to the Hebrew idiom, sister to 
the Virgin Mary. But Eusebius, Epiphanius, and many others, tell 
us they were the children of Joseph by a former wife. 

After the resurrection, he was honored with a particular appear- 
ance of our Lord to him, which, though passed over in silence bv the 
evangelists, is recorded by St. Paul. Some time after this appear- 
ance, he was chosen bishop of Jerusalem, preferred before all the rest 



522 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 




CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 



for his near relation to Christ. For the same reason, we find Simon 
chosen to be his immediate successor in that see, because, after St. 
James, he was our Lord's next kinsman — a consideration that made 
Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, though they had been particularly 
honored by our Saviour, not to contend for this high and honorable 
station, but freely choose James the Just bishop of Jerusalem. 

When St. Paul came to Jerusalem after his conversion, he applied 
to St. James, and was by him honored with the right hand of fellow- 
ship. And it was to St. James that Peter -sent the news of his 
miraculous deliverance out of prison. " Go," said he, " show these 
things unto James, and to the brethren ;" that is, to the whole church, 
especially to St. James, the pastor of it. 

He performed every part of his duty with all possible care and in- 
dustry, omitting no particular necessary to be observed by a diligent 
and faithful guide of souls : strengthening the weak, instructing the 
ignorant, reducing the erroneous, reproving the obstinate, and, by 
the constancy of his sermons, conquering the stubbornness of that 
perverse and refractory generation he had to deal with, many of the 
nobler and richer sort being persuaded to embrace the Christian faith. 

But a person so careful, so successful in his charge, could not fail 
of exciting the spite and malice of his enemies : a sort of men of 
whom the apostle has given too true a character, that they "please 
not God, and are contrary to all men." They were vexed to see 
St. Paul had escaped their hands by appealing unto Caesar, and there- 
fore turned their fury against St. James. But, being unable to effect 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



523 



their design under the government of Festus, they determined to 
attempt it under the procuratorship of Albinus, his successor ; Ana- 
nus the younger, of the sect of the Sadducees, being high-priest. In 
order to this, a council was summoned, and the apostle, with others, 
arraigned and condemned as violators of the law. But that the 
action might appear, more plausible and popular, the Scribes and 
Pharisees, masters in the art of dissimulation, endeavored to ensnare 
him ; and, at their first coming, told him that they had all placed the 
greatest confidence in him ; that the whole nation, as well as they, 
gave him the title of a just man, and one that was no respecter of 
persons. That they therefore desired he would correct the error and 
false opinion the people had conceived of Jesus, whom they considered 
as the Messiah, and take this opportunity of the universal confluence 
to the paschal solemnity, to set them right in their opinions in this 
particular — and would go with them to the top of the temple, where 
he might be seen and heard by all. 

The apostle readily consented, and being advantageously placed on 
a pinnacle of the temple, they addressed him in the following man- 
ner : " Tell us, for we have all the reason in the world, to believe, 
that the people are thus generally led away with the doctrine of 
Jesus, who was crucified : tell us, what is this institution of the 
crucified Jesus ?" To which the apostle answered, with an audible 
voice, " Why do you inquire of Jesus, the Son of man ? he sits in 
heaven, at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and will come 
again in the clouds of heaven." The 'people below hearing this, glo- 
rified the blessed Jesus, and openly proclaimed, " Hosanna to the Son 
of David !" 

The bribes and Pharisees now perceived that they had acted fool- 
ishly ; t*uit, instead of altering, they had confirmed the people in their 
belief ; and that there was no way left but to dispatch him immedi- 
ately, in order to warn others, by his sufferings, not to believe in 
Jesus of Nazareth. Accordingly, they suddenly cried out, that James 
himself was seduced and become an impostor, and they immediately 
threw him from the pinnacle on which he stood into the court below ; 
but not being killed on the spot, he recovered himself so far as to rise 
on his knees, and pray fervently to heaven for his murderers. But 
malice is too diabolical to be pacified with kindness, or satisfied with 
cruelty. Accordingly, his enemies, vexed that they had not fully ac- 
complished their work, poured a shower of stones upon him, while he 
ivas imploring their forgiveness at the throne of grace; and one of 



524 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 

them, dissatisfied with this cruel treatment, put an end to his misery 
with a fuller's club. 



ST. SIMON THE ZEALOT. 

St. Simon, in the catalogue of the apostles, is styled Simon the 
Canaanite, whence some conjecture he was born in Cana of Galilee ; 
and others will have him to have been the bridegroom mentioned by 
St. John, at whose marriage our blessed Saviour turned the water 
into wine. But this word has no relation to his country, or the place 
of his nativity, being derived from the Hebrew word Icana, which 
signifies zeal, and denotes a warm and sprightly temper. What some 
of the evangelists, therefore, call Canaanite, others, rendering the 
Hebrew by the Greek word, style him Zealot : not so much from his 
great zeal, his ardent affection to his Master, and his desire of advan- 
cing his religion in the world, as from his warm active temper, and 
zealous forwardness in some particular sect of religion before his com- 
ing to our Saviour. 

In order to understand this the better, it will be necessary to ob- 
serve, that as there were several sects and parties among the Jews, so 
there was one, either a distinct sect, or at least a branch of the Phari- 
sees, called the sect of the Zealots. This sect of the Zealots took upon 
them to execute punishments in extraordinary cases ; and that not only 
by the connivance, but with the permission both of the rulers and 
people, till in process of time their zeal degenerated into all kinds of 
licentiousness and wild extravagance ; and they not only became the 
pests of the commonwealth at home, but opened the door for the 
Romans to break in upon them, to their final and irrevocable ruin. 
They were continually prompting the people to throw off the Roman 
yoke, and assert their natural liberty, taking care, when they had 
thrown all things into confusion, to make their own advantage of the 
tumult. Josephus gives a large account of them, and everywhere be- 
wails them as the great plague of the nation. 

Many attempts were made, especially by Annas, the high priest, to 
reduce them to order, and oblige them to observe the rules of sobriety, 
but all were in vain : they continued their violent proceedings, and 
joining with the Idumeans, committed every kind of outrage. They 
broke into the sanctuary, slew the priests themselves before the altar, 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



525 



and filled the streets of Jerusalem with tumults, rapine, and blood. 
Nay, when Jerusalem was closely besieged by the Roman army, they 
continued their detestable proceedings, creating fresh tumults and fac- 
tions, and were indeed the principal cause of the ill success of the Jews 
in that fatal war. 

This is a true account of the sect of the Zealots ; though, whatever 
St. Simon was before, we have no reason to suspect but that after his 
conversion he was very zealous for the honor of his Master, and 
considered all those who were enemies to Christ as enemies to himself, 
however near they might be to him in any natural relation. And as 
he was very exact in all the practical duties of the Christian religion, 
so he showed a very serious and pious indignation towards those who 
professed religion and a faith in Christ with their mouths, but dishon- 
ored their sacred profession, by their irregular and vicious lives, as 
some of the first professing Christians really did. 

St. Simon continued in communion with the rest of the apostles and 
disciples at Jerusalem j and at the feast of Pentecost received the same 
miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost, so that he was qualified, with the 
rest of the brethren, for the apostolic office ; and in propagating the 
gospel of the Son of God, we cannot doubt of his exercising his gifts 
with the same zeal and fidelity, though in what part of the world is 
uncertain. Some say he went into Egypt, Cyrene, and Africa, 
preaching the gospel to the inhabitants of those remote and barbarous 
countries. And others add, that after he had passed through those 
burning wastes, he took ship and visited the frozen regions of the 
north, preaching the gospel to the inhabitants of the western parts, 
and even in Britain, where, having converted great multitudes, and 
sustained the greatest hardships and persecutions, he was at last cruci- 
fied, and buried, but the place where is unknown. 



ST. JUDE. 

This apostle is mentioned by three several names in the evangelical 
history, namely, Jude, or Judas, Thaddeus, and Lebbeus. 

He was brother to St. James the Less, afterwards bishop of Jerusa- 
lem, being the son of Joseph, the reputed father of Christ, by a former 
wife. It is not known when, or by what means he became a disciple 



526 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



of our blessed Saviour, nothing being said of him till we find him in 
the catalogue of the twelve apostles ; nor afterwards, till Christ's last 
supper, when discoursing with them about his departure, and com- 
forting them with a promise that he would return to them again, 
meaning after his resurrection, though the " world should see him no 
more/' our apostle said to his Master, " Lord, how 7 is it that thou wilt 
manifest thyself to us, and not unto the world?" 

Paulinus tells us, that the province which fell to the share of St. 
Jude in the apostolic division of the provinces, was Lybia, but he 
does not tell us whether it was the Cyrenian Lybia, which is thought 
to have received the gospel from St. Mark, or the more southern parts 
of Africa. But however that be, in his first setting out to preach the 
gospel, he travelled up and down Judea and Galilee ; then through 
Samaria into Idumea, and to the cities of Arabia and the neighboring 
countries, and afterwards to Syria and Mesopotamia. Nicephorus 
adds, that he came at last to Edessa, where Abagarus governed, and 
where Thaddeus, one of the seventy, had already sown the seeds of 
the gospel. Here he perfected what the other had begun ; and having 
by his sermons and miracles established the religion of Jesus, he died 
in peace ; but others say that he was slain at Bervtus, and honorably 
buried there. The writers of the Latin church are unanimous in de- 
claring that he travelled into Persia, where, after great success in his 
apostolical ministry for many years, he was at last, for his freely and 
openly reproving the superstitious rites and customs of the magi, 
cruelly put to death. 

St. Jude left only one Epistle, which is placed the last of those 
seven styled catholic in the sacred canon. It has no particular in- 
scription, as the other six have, but is thought to have been primarily 
intended for the Christian Jews, in their several dispersions, as St. 
Peter's Epistles were. In it he tells them, that he at first intended to 
write to them in general of the common salvation, and establish and 
confirm them in it ; but seeing the doctrine of Christ attacked on every 
side by seducers, he conceived it more necessary to spend his time in 
exhorting them to fight manfullv in defence of the faith once de- 
livered to the saints, and oppose the false teachers who labored so in- 
defatigably to corrupt it. 

It was some time before this epistle was generally received in the 
church. The author, indeed, like St. James, St. John, and sometimes 
St. Paul himself, does not call himself an apostle, styling himself only 
the servant of Christ. But he has added what is equivalent, " Jude, 



AND HOLY WOMEX. 



527 



the brother of James/' a character that can belong to no one but our 
apostle. And surely the humility of a follower of Jesus should be no 
objection against his writings. 



ST. MATTHIAS. 

As Matthias was not an apostle of the first election, immediately 
called and chosen of the Son of God himself, it cannot be expected 
that any account of him can be found in the evangelical history. He 
was one of our Lord's disciples, probably one of the seventy, that had 
attended on him the whole time of his public ministry, and after his 
death was elected into the apostleship to supply the place of Judas, 
who, after betraying his great Lord and Master, laid violent hands on 
himself. 

The defection of Judas having made a vacancy in the family of the 
apostles, the first thing they did after their return from Mount Olivet, 
when their great Master ascended to the throne of his glory, was to 
fill up this vacancy with a proper person. 

Accordingly two persons were proposed, Joseph, called Barsabas, 
and Matthias, both duly qualified for the important office. The 
method of election was by lots, a way common both among the Jews 
and Gentiles for determining doubtful and difficult cases, especially in 
choosing judges or magistrates. And this course seems to have been 
taken by the apostles, because the Holy Ghost was not yet fully gi^en, 
by whose immediate dictates and inspirations they were afterwards 
chiefly guided. The prayer being ended, the lots were drawn, by 
which it appeared that Matthias was the person, and he was accord- 
ingly numbered among the twelve apostles. 

Not long after this election, the promised powers of the Holy Ghost 
were conferred upon the apostles, to qualify them for that great 
and difficult employment upon which they were sent, namely, the 
establishing the holy religion of the Son of God among the children 
of men. 

St. Matthias spent the first year of his ministry in Judea, where he 
reaped a very considerable harvest of souls, and then travelled into 
different parts of the world, to publish the glad tidings of salvation to 
a people who had never yet heard of a Saviour ; but the particular 
parts he visited are not certainly known. 



528 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



It is uncertain by what kind of death he left the regions of mor- 
tality, and sealed the truth of the gospel he had so assiduously 
preached with his blood. , Dorotheus says he finished his course at 
Sebastople, and was buried there near the Temple of the Sun. An 
ancient martyrology reports him to have been seized by the Jews, and 
as a blasphemer to have been stoned and then beheaded. But the 
Greek offices, supported herein by the authority of several ancient 
breviaries, tell us that he was crucified. 



ST. MARK. 

St. Mark was descended from Jewish parents, and of the tribe of 
Levi. Nor was it uncommon among the Jews to change their names 
on some remarkable revolution or accident of life, or when they in- 
tended to travel into any of the European provinces of the Roman 
empire. 

The ancients generally considered him as one of the seventy disci- 
ples ; and Epiphanius expressly tells us that he was one of those who, 
taking exception at our Lord's discourse of " eating his flesh and 
drinking his blood, went back, and walked no more with him." But 
there appears no manner of foundation for these opinions, nor likewise 
for that of Nicephorus, who will have him to be the son of St. Peter's 
sister. 

Eusebius tells us that St. Mark was sent into Egypt by St. Peter,, 
to preach the gospel, and accordingly planted a church in Alexandria,, 
the metropolis of it; and his success was so very remarkable, that he 
converted multitudes, both of men and women, persuading them not 
only to embrace the Christian religion,- but also a life of more than 
ordinary strictness. 

St. Mark did not confine himself to Alexandria, and the oriental 
parts of Egypt, but removed westward to Lybia, passing through the 
countries of Marmacia, Pentapolis, and others adjacent, where, though 
the people were both barbarous in their manners and idolatrous in 
their worship, yet by his preaching and miracles he prevailed on them 
to embrace the tenets of the gospel ; nor did he leave them till he had 
confirmed them in the faith. 

After this long tour he returned to Alexandria, where he preached 
with the greatest freedom, ordered and disposed of the affairs of the: 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



529 



church, and wisely provided for its prosperity, by constituting gover- 
nors and pastors of it. But the restless enemy of the souls of men 
would not suffer our apostle to continue in peace and quietness ; for 
while he was assiduously laboring in the vineyard of his Master, the 
idolatrous inhabitants, about the time of Easter, when they were 
celebrating the solemnities of Serapis, tumultuously entered the church, 
forced St. Mark, then performing divine service, from thence; and, 
binding his feet with cords, dragged him through the streets, and over 
the most craggy places, to the Bucelus, a precipice near the sea, leav- 
ing him there in a lonesome prison for that night ; but his great and 
beloved Master appeared to him in a vision, comforting and encourag- 
ing his soul, under the ruins of his shattered body. The next morn- 
ing early the tragedy began afresh, for they dragged him about in the 
same cruel and barbarous manner till he expired. But their malice 
did not end with his death ; they burnt his mangled body after they 
had so inhumanly deprived it of life. But the Christians, after the 
horrid tragedy was over, gathered up his bones and ashes, and de- 
cently interred them near the place where he used to preach. His 
remains were afterwards, with great pomp, removed from Alexan- 
dria to Venice, where they were religiously honored, and he adopted 
as the titular saint and patron of that state. 

It is said he suffered martyrdom on the 25th of April, but the year 
is not absolutely known ; the most probable opinion, however, is, that 
it happened about the end of Nero's reign. 

His gospel, the only writing he left behind him, was written at the 
entreaty and earnest desire of the converts at Rome, who, not content 
with having heard St. Peter preach, pressed St. Mark, his fellow- 
disciple, to commit to writing an historical account of what he had 
delivered to them, which he performed with equal faithfulness and 
brevity, and being perused and approved by St. Peter, was commanded 
to be publicly read in their assemblies. It was frequently styled St. 
Peter's gospel, not because he dictated it to St. Mark, but because the 
latter composed it in the same manner as St. Peter usually delivered 
his discourses to the people. And this is probably the reason of what 
St. Chrysostom observes, that in his style of expression he delights to 
imitate St. Peter, representing a great deal in a few words. The re- 
markable impartiality he observes in all his relations is plain, and 
hence, so far from concealing the shameful lapse and denial of Peter, 
he describes it with more aggravating circumstances than any other 
evangelist 
34 



530 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



ST. LUKE. 

This disciple of the blessed Jesus was born at Antioch, the metrop- 
olis of Syria, a city celebrated for the pleasantness of its situation, the 
fertility of its soil, the riches of its commerce, the wisdom of its senate, 
and the civility and politeness of its inhabitants, by the pens of some 
of the greatest writers of those times. It was eminent for schools of 
learning, which produced the most renowned masters in the arts and 
sciences ; so that being born, as it were, in the lap of the muses, he 
could not well fail of acquiring an ingenious and liberal education. 
But he was not contented with the, learning of his own country ; he 
travelled for improvement into several parts of Greece and Egypt, and 
became particularly skilled in physic, which he made his profession. 
But those who would, from this particular, infer the quality of- his 
birth and fortune, forget that the healing art was in those early times 
practised by servants ; and hence Grotius is of opinion, that St. Luke 
was carried to Rome, and lived there as servant to some noble family, 
in quality of physician ; but after obtaining his freedom he returned 
\nto his own country, and probably continued his profession till his 
death, it being so highly consistent with, and in many cases subser- 
vient to the care of souls. 

He was also famous for his skill in another art, namely, painting, 
and an ancient inscription, found in a vault near the church of St. 
Maria de Via Latta, at Rome, supposed to have been the place where 
St. Paul dwelt, which mentions a picture of the blessed Virgin. 
Una ex vii ab Imca depictis, being one of the seven painted by St. 
Luke. 

St. Luke was a Jewish proselyte ; but at what time he became a 
Christian is uncertain. It is the opinion of some, from the in- 
troduction to his gospel, that he had the facts from the reports of 
others, who were eye-witnesses, and suppose him to have been con- 
verted by St. Paul ; and that he learned the history of his gospel from 
the conversation of that apostle, and wrote it under his direction ; and 
that when St. Paul, in one of his Epistles, says, " according to my gos- 
pel," he means that of St. Luke, which he styled his from the great 
share he had in the composition of it. 

On the other hand, those who hold that he wrote his gospel from 
his own personal knowledge, observe, that he could not receive it from 
St. Paul, as an eye-witness of the matters contained in it, because all 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



531 



those matters were transacted before his conversion ; and that he never 
saw our Lord before he appeared to him in his journey to Damascus, 
which was some time after he ascended into heaven. Consequently, 
when St. Paul says, " according to my gospel," he means no more 
than that gospel in general which he preached ; the whole preaching 
of the apostles being styled the gospel. 

But however this be, St. Luke became the inseparable companion 
of St. Paul in all his travels, and his constant fellow-laborer in the 
work of the ministry. This infinitely endeared him to that apostle, 
who seems delighted with owning him for his fellow-laborer, and in 
calling him the " beloved physician," and the " brother whose praise 
is in the gospel." 

St. Luke wrote two books for the use of the church, his Gospel and 
the Acts of the Apostles ; both of which he dedicated to Theophilus, 
which many of the ancients suppose to be a feigned name, denoting a 
lover of God, a title common to all sincere Christians. But others 
think it was a real person, because vhe title of "Most Excellent" is 
attributed to him ; the usual title and form of address in those times to 
princes and great men. 

His gospel contains the principal transactions of our Lord's life ; 
and the particulars omitted by him are, in general, of less importance 
than those of the other evangelists. 

With regard to the Acts of the Apostles, written by St. Luke, the 
work was no doubt performed at Pome, about the time of St. Paul's 
imprisonment there, with which he concludes his story. It contains 
the actions, and sometimes the sufferings of the principal apostles, es- 
pecially St. Paul, whose activity in the cause of Christ made him 
bear a great part in the labors of his Master; and St. Luke being his 
constant attendant, an eye-witness of the whole carriage of his life, 
and privy to his most intimate transactions, was consequently capable 
of giving a more full and satisfactory account of them. Among other 
things, he enumerates the great miracles the apostles did in confirma- 
tion of their doctrine. 

In both these treatises his manner of writing is exact and accurate, 
his style noble and elegant, sublime and lofty, yet clear and perspicu- 
ous, flowing with an easy and natural grace and sweetness, admirably 
adapted to an historical narrative. In short, as an historian, he was 
faithful to his relations, and elegant in his writings ; as a minister care- 
ful and diligent for the good of souls; as a Christian devout and pious; 
and to crown all the rest, laid down his life in testimony of the gospel 
he had both preached and published to the world. 



532 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



ST. BARNABAS. 

St. Barnabas was at first called Joses, a softer termination, gen- 
erally given by the Greeks to Joseph. His fellow disciples added the 
name of Barnabas, as significant of some extraordinary property 
in him. St. Luke interprets it, "the son of consolation/' from his 
being ever ready to administer to the afflicted, both by word and 
action. 

He was a descendant of the tribe of Levi, of a family removed 
out of Judea, and settled in the Isle of Cyprus, where they had 
purchased an estate, as the Levites might do out of their country. 
His parents, finding their son of a promising genius and disposition, 
placed him in one of the schools of Jerusalem, under the tuition 
of Gamaliel, St. Paul's master; an accident which, in all proba- 
bility, laid the foundation for that intimacy which afterwards 
subsisted between those two eminent servants of the blessed Jesus. 

The first mention we find of St. Barnabas, in the holy scripture, is 
the record of that great and worthy service he did the church of 
Christ, by succoring it with r * sale of his patrimony in Cyprus, the 
whole price of which 1 laid at the apostles' feet, to be put into the 
common stock, and disposed of as they should think fit, among the 
indigent wllowers of the holy Jesus. This worthy example was fol- 
lowed by those vho were blessed with temporal good, none kept 
their plenty to themselves, but turned their houses and lands into 
money, rnd devoted it to the L^mmon use of the church. St. Barna- 
bas is indeed mentioned as selling a most valuable estate on this oc- 
casion ; being the most forward and ready to begin a common stock, 
and set others a laudable? pattern of charity and benevolence. 

And n'vw St. Barnabas became considerable in the ministry and 
government of the church ; for we find that St. Paul, coming to Jeru- 
salem three /ears after his conversion, and not readily procuring ad- 
mittance into f s church, because he had been so grievous a persecutor 
of it, and might still be suspected of a design to betray it, addressed 
himself to Barnaba^, a leading man among the Christians, and one 
that had personal knowledge of him. He accordingly introduced 
him to Peter and James, and satisfied them of the sincerity of his 
conversion, and in what a miraculous manner it was brought about. 
This recommendation carried so much weight with it, that Paul 
was not only received into the communion of the apostles, but 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



533 



taken into Peter's house, "and abode with him fifteen days." Gak 
i. 18. 

About four or five years after this, the agreeable news was brought 
to Jerusalem, that several of their body, who had been driven out of 
Judea by the persecutions raised about St. Stephen, had preached at 
Antioch with such success that a great number, both of Jews and 
proselytes, embraced Christianity, and were desirous that some of the 
apostles would come down and visit them. This request was imme- 
diately granted, and Barnabas was deputed to settle the new planta- 
tion ; and being himself " a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost 
and of faith," his charitable deeds accompanying his discourses, and 
his pious life exemplifying his sound doctrine, the people were 
greatly influenced by him, and very considerable additions were 
made to the Christian church. But there being too large a field 
for one laborer, he went to fetch Saul from Tarsus, who came back 
with him to Antioch, and assisted him a whole year in establishing 
that church. Their labors prospered; their assemblies were crowded, 
and the disciples, who, before this, were called among themselves 
"brethren, believers, elect," and by their enemies, "Nazarenes and 
Galileans, were now called Christians first in Antioch." 

When the apostles had fulfilled their charitable embassy, and staid 
some time at Jerusalem to see the good effect of it, they returned 
again to Antioch, bringing with them John, whose surname was 
Mark, the son of Mary, sister to Barnabas, and at whose house the 
disciples found both security for their persons and conveniency for the 
solemnities of their worship. But soon after the apostles returned to 
Antioch, an express relation was made to the church, by the mouth 
of one of the prophets who ministered there, that Barnabas and Saul 
should be set apart for an extraordinary w T ork, unto which the Holy 
Ghost had appointed them. Upon this declaration, the church set 
apart a day for a solemn mission ; after devout prayer and fasting, 
they laid their hands upon them, and ordained them to their new 
work ; which was to travel over certain countries, and preach the gos- 
pel to the Gentiles. From this joint commission, Barnabas obtained 
the name of an apostle, not only among later writers of the church, 
but with St. Paul himself, as we find in the history of the Acts 
of the Apostles. Paul and Barnabas being thus solemnly appointed 
" the apostles of the Gentiles," entered upon their province, taking 
with them John Mark for their minister or deacon, who assisted 
them in many ecclesiastical offices, particularly in taking care of the 
poor 



534 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



The first city they visited after their departure from Antioch was 
Selucia, a city of Syria, adjoining to the sea. From whence they 
sailed for the island of Cyprus, the native place of St. Barnabas, and 
arrived at Salamis, a port formerly remarkable for its trade. Here 
they boldly preached the doctrines of the gospel, in the synagogue of 
the Jews, and from thence travelled to Paphos, the capital of the 
island, and famous for a temple dedicated to Venus, the titular god- 
dess of Cyprus. Here their preaching was attended with remarkable 
success ; Servius Paulus, the pro-consul, being among others converted 
to the Christian faith. 

Leaving Cyprus, they crossed the sea to preach in Pamphylia, 
where their deacon, John, to the great grief of his uncle Barnabas, 
left them, and returned to Jerusalem — either tired with continual 
travels, or discouraged at the unavoidable dangers and difficulties 
which experience had sufficiently informed him would constantly 
attend the first preachers of the gospel, from hardened Jews and idola- 
trous Gentiles. 

Soon after their arrival at Lystra, Paul cured a man who had been 
lame from his mother's womb, which so astonished the inhabitants 
that they believed them to be gods who had visited the world in the 
form of men. Barnabas they treated as Jupiter, their sovereign 
deity, either because of his age, or the gravity and comeliness of his 
person. For all the writers of antiquity represent him as a person 
of a venerable aspect, and a majestic presence. But the apostles, with 
the greatest humility, declared themselves to be but mortal. And 
the inconstant populace soon satisfied themselves of the truth of what 
they had asserted ; for at the persuasion of their indefatigable perse- 
cutors, who followed them hither also, they made an assault upon 
them, and stoned Paul till they left him for dead. But, supported 
by an invisible power from on high, he soon recovered his spirits and 
strength, and the apostles immediately departed for Derbe. Soon 
after their arrival they again applied themselves to the work of the 
ministry, and converted many to the religion of the blessed Jesus. 
From Derbe they returned back to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, in 
Pisidia, " confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to 
continue in the faith ; and that we must through much tribulation 
enter into the kingdom of God." Acts xiv. 22. After a short stay 
they again visited the churches of Pamphylia, Perga, and Attalia, 
where they took ship for Antioch, in Syria, the place from whence 
they first set out. Soon after their arrival they called the church of 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



535 



this city together, and gave them an account of their, travels, and the 
great success with which their preaching to the Gentiles had been 
attended. 

But they had not long continued in this city before their assistance 
was required to compose a difference in the church, occasioned by 
some of the Jewish converts, who endeavored to persuade the Gen- 
tiles that they were bound to observe the law of Moses, as Avell as 
that of Christ, and be circumcised as well as baptized. Barnabas 
endeavored to dissuade the zealots from pressing such unnecessary 
observances. But all his endeavors proving ineffectual, he was de- 
puted, with St. Paul and others, to the church at Jerusalem, to submit 
the question to be determined there in full assembly. During their 
stay at Jerusalem, Mark, in all probability, reconciled himself to Bar- 
uabas, and returned with him and St. Paul to Antioch, after they had 
succeeded in their business at Jerusalem, and obtained a decree from 
the synod there, that the Gentile converts should not have circum- 
cision and other Mosaic rites imposed upon them. 

This determination generally comforted and quieted the minds of 
the Gentiles, but it did not prevent the bigoted Jews from keeping 
up a separation from them ; and that with so much obstinacy, that 
when St. Peter some time after came to Antioch, he, for fear of offend- 
ing them, deviated from his former practice, and late speech and vote 
in the synod of Jerusalem, by refraining from all kind of communion 
with the Gentiles. And Barnabas himself, so great and good a man, 
was induced, by the authority of his example, to commit the same 
error ; though doubtless, on being reproved by St. Paul, they both 
took more courage, and walked according to the true liberty and free- 
dom of the gospel. 

Some days cifter this last occurrence Paul made a proposal to Barna- 
bas that they should repeat their late travels among the Gentiles, and 
sec how the churches they had planted increased in their numbers, 
and improved in the doctrines they had taught them. Barnabas very 
readily complied with the motion, but desired they might take with 
them his reconciled nephew, John Mark. This Paul absolutely re- 
fused, because in their former voyage, Mark had not shown the con- 
stancy of a faithful minister of Christ, but consulted his own ease at a 
dangerous juncture, departed from them, without leave, at Pamphylia, 
and returned to Jerusalem. Barnabas still insisted on taking him, and 
the other continuing as resolute to oppose it, a short debate arose, 
which terminated in a separation, whereby these two holy men, who 



536 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 



had for several years been companions in the ministry, and with 
united endeavors propagated the gospel of the Son of God, now took 
different provinces. Barnabas, with his kinsman, sailed to his own 
country, Cyprus ; and Paul, accompanied by Silas, travelled to the 
churches of Syria and Cilicia. 

After this separation from St. Paul, the sacred writings give us no 
account of St. Barnabas ; nor are the ecclesiastical writers agreed among 
themselves with regard to the actions of this apostle after his sailing 
for Cyprus. This, however, seems to be certain, that he did not spend 
the whole remainder of his life in that island, but visited different 
parts of the world, preaching the glad tidings of the gospel, healing 
the sick, and working other miracles among the Gentiles. After long 
and painful travels, attended with different degrees of success in dif- 
ferent places, he returned to Cyprus, his native country, where he suf- 
fered martyrdom in the following manner : Certain Jews coming from 
Syria to Salamis, where Barnabas was then preaching the gospel, being 
highly exasperated at his extraordinary success, fell upon him as he 
was disputing in the synagogue, dragged him out, and after the most 
inhuman tortures, stoned him to death. His kinsman, John Mark, 
who was a spectator of this barbarous action, privately interred his 
body in a cave; where it is said it remained till the time of the Em- 
peror Zeno, in the year of Christ 485, when it was discovered, with 
St. Matthew's Gospel in Hebrew, written with his own hand, lying 
on his breast. 



ST. STEPHEN. 

Both the scriptures and the ancient writers are silent with regard 
to the birth, country, and parents of St. Stephen. Epiphanius is of 
opinion that he was one of the seventy disciples; but this is very un- 
certain. Our blessed Saviour appointed his seventy disciples to 
teach the doctrines and preach the glad tidings of the gospel ; but it 
does not appear that St. Stephen and the six other first deacons had 
any particular designation before they were chosen for the service of 
the tables ; and, therefore, St. Stephen could not have been one of our 
Lord's disciples, though he might have often followed him and listened 
to his discourses. 

He was remarkably zealous for the cause of religion, and full of the 



538 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



Holy Ghost ; working many wonderful miracles before the people, and 
pressing them with the greatest earnestness to embrace the doctrines 
of the gospel. 

This highly provoked the Jews; and some of the synagogue of the 
freed men of Cyrenia, Alexandria, and other places entered into dis- 
pute with him ; but being unable to resist the wisdom and spirit by 
which he spake, they suborned false witnesses against him, to testify 
that they heard him blaspheme against Moses and against God, Nor 
did they stop here ; they stirred up the people by their calumnies, so 
that they dragged him before the council of the nation, or great san- 
hedrim, where they produced false witnesses against him, who deposed 
that they had heard him speak against the temple and against the law, 
and affirm that Jesus of Nazareth would destroy the holy place, and 
abolish the law of Moses. Stephen, supported by his own innocence 
and an invisible power from on high, appeared undaunted in the 
midst of this assembly, his countenance shining like that of an angel ; 
when the high priest asked him what he had to offer against the accu- 
sations laid to his charge, he answered by reminding them of God's 
great mercies to them as a nation, and by showing them how they had 
resisted him, and refused to receive the blessings he held out to them, 
closing his remarks as follows : 

" Ye stiff-necked, ye uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye will for- 
ever resist the Holy Ghost, Ye tread in the paths of your fathers. 
As they did, so do you still continue to do. Did not your fathers 
persecute every one of the prophets ? Did not they slay them who 
showed the -coming of the Holy One, whom ye yourselves have be- 
trayed and murdered ? Ye have received the law by the disposition 
of angels, but never kept it." 

At these words, they were so highly enraged that they all gnashed 
their teeth against him. But Stephen, lifting up his eyes to heaven, 
saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of Om- 
nipotence. Upon which, he said to the council, " I see the heavens 
• open, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God." This 
so greatly provoked the Jews, that they cried out with one voice, and 
stopped their ears, as if they had heard some dreadful blasphemy ; 
and falling upon him, they dragged him out of the city, and stoned 
him to death. It was the custom of the Jews, on these occasions, for 
the witnesses to throw the first stone. Whether they observed this 
•particular at the martyrdom of Stephen, is uncertain. But the evan- 
gelist tells us that the witnesses were principally concerned in this 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



539 



action ; for they stripped off their clothes, and laid them at the feet 
of a young man whose name was Saul, then a violent persecutor of 
the Christian church, but afterwards one of the most zealous preachers 
of the gospel. 

Stephen, while they were mangling his body with stones, was pray- 
ing to his heavenly Father for their pardon. " Lord," said he, " lay 
not this sin to their charge." And then, calling on his dear Redeemer 
to receive his spirit, he yielded up his soul. 



ST. TIMOTHY. 

Timothy was a convert and disciple of St. Paul. lie was born, 
according to some, at Lystra ; or, according to others, at Derbe. His 
father was a Gentile, but his mother a Jewess, whose name was 
Eunice, and that of his grandmother Lois. 

These particulars are taken notice of because St. Paul commends 
their piety, and the good education which they had given Timothy. 
When St, Paul came to Derbe and Lystra, about the year of Christ 
51 or 52, the brethren gave a very advantageous testimony of the 
piety and good disposition of Timothy ; and the apostle would have 
him along with him, but he initiated him at Lystra, before he received 
him into his company. Timothy applied himself to labor with St. 
Paul in the business of the gospel, and did him very important ser- 
vices through the whole course of his preaching. It is not known 
when he was made a bishop. But it is believed that he received very 
early the imposition of the apostles' hands, and that in consequence 
of a particular revelation or direction from the Holy Ghost. St. Paul 
calls him not only his dearly-beloved son, but also his brother, the 
companion of his labors, and a man of God. He declared that there 
was no one more united with him in heart and mind than Timothy. 

This holy disciple accompanied St. Paul to Macedonia, to Philippi, 
to Thessalonica, to Berea ; and when the apostle went from Berea he 
left Timothy and Silas there to confirm the converts. When he came 
to Athens he sent for Timothy to come thither to him ; and when he 
was come, and had given him an account of the churches at Mace- 
donia, St. Paul sent him back to Thessalonica, from whence he 
afterwards returned with Silas, and came to St. Paul at Corinth. 



540 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



There he continued with him, and the apostle mentions him with 
Silas, at the beginning of the two Epistles Avhich he then wrote to the 
Thessalonians. 

Some years after this St. Paul sent Timothy and Erastus into Ma- 
cedonia ; and gave Timothy orders to call at Corinth, to refresh the 
minds of the Corinthians with regard to the truths which he had in- 
culcated upon them. And some time after, writing to the same 
Corinthians, he recommends them to take care of Timothy, and send 
him back in peace. After this Timothy returned to St. Paul in Asia, 
who there staid for him. They went together into Macedonia ; and 
the apostle puts Timothy's name with his own, before the second 
Epistle to the Corinthians, which he wrote to them from Macedonia, 
about the middle of the year of Christ 57 ; and he sends his recom- 
mendations to the Romans in the letter which he wrote them from 
Corinth the same year. 

When St. Paul returned from Rome, in 64, h^ left Timothy at 
Ephesus, to take care of that church, of which he was the first 
bishop, as he is recognized by the council of Chalcedon. St. Paul 
wrote to him from Macedonia the first of the two Epistles which are 
addressed to him. He recommends him to be more moderate in his 
austerities, and to drink a little wine, because of the weakness of his 
stomach, and his frequent infirmities. After the apostle came to 
Rome, in the year 65, being now very near his death, he wrote to 
him his second letter, which is full of the marks of his kindness and 
tenderness for this his dear disciple, and which is justly looked upon 
as the last will of St. Paul. He desires-him to come to Rome to him 
before winter, and bring with him several things which St. Paul had 
left at Troas. If Timothy went to Rome, as it is probable he did, he 
must have been a witness there of the martyrdom of this apostle, in 
the year of Christ 66. 

If he did not die before the year 97, we can hardly doubt but that 
he must be the pastor of the church of Ephesus, to whom St. John 
writes in his Revelations; though the reproaches with which he 
seems to load him for his declension in having left his first love, do 
not seem to agree to so holy a man as Timothy was, or show that 
men eminently holy may yet fall from their steadfastness. Thus he 
speaks to him, " I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, 
and how thou canst not bear them which are evil : and thou hast 
tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found 
them liars ; and hast borne and hast patience, and for my name's 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



541 



sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless, I have some- 
what against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember, 
therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent and do thy first 
works ; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy 
candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." The greater num- 
ber of interpreters think that these reproaches do not so much concern 
the person of Timothy, as that of some members of his church, whose 
zeal was grown cool. But others are persuaded that they may 
be applied to Timothy himself, who made ample amends by the 
martyrdom which he suffered for the reproaches mentioned by St. 
John in this place. It is supposed that Timothy had Onesimus for 
his successor. 



TITUS. 

Titus was a Gentile by religion and birth, but converted by St. 
Paul, who calls him his son. St. Jerome says that he was St. Paul's 
interpreter ; and that probably because he might write what St. Paul 
dictated, or explained in Latin what this apostle said in Greek ; or 
rendered into Greek what St. Paul said in Hebrew or Syriac. St. 
Paul took him with him to Jerusalem, when he went thither in the 
year 51 of the vulgar era, about deciding the question which was then 
started, whether the converted Gentiles ought to be made subject to 
the ceremonies of the law. Some would then have obliged him to 
circumcise Titus, but neither he nor Titus would consent to it. Titus 
was sent by the same apostle to Corinth, upon occasion of some dis- 
putes which then divided the church. He was well received by the 
Corinthians, and very much satisfied with their ready compliance, 
but would receive nothing from them, intimating thereby the disin- 
terestedness of his master. 

From thence he went to St. Paul in Macedonia, and gave him an 
account of the state of the church at Corinth. A little while after the 
apostle desired him to return again to Corinth, to set things in order 
preparatory to his coming. Titus readily undertook this journey, and 
departed immediately, carrying with him St. PauFs second letter to 
the Corinthians. Titus was made bishop of the isle of Crete, about 
the 63d year of Christ, when St. Paul was obliged to quit this island, 
in order to take care of the other churches. The following year he 



542 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



wrote to him to desire that, as soon as he should have sent Tychycus 
of Artemas to him for supplying his place in Crete, Titus would come 
to him to Nicopolis in Macedonia, or to Nicopolis in Epirus upon the 
gulf of Ambracia, where the apostle intended to pass his winter. 

The subject of this Epistle is to represent to Titus what are the 
qualities that a bishop should be endued with. As the principal 
function which Titus was to exercise in the isle of Crete, was to or- 
dain elders, it was highly incumbent on him to make a discreet choice. 

The Epistle to Titus has always been acknowledged by the church. 
The Marcionites did not receive it, nor did the Basilidians, and some 
other heretics ; but Titian, the head of the Encratites, received it, and 
preferred it before all the rest. It is not certainly known from what 
place it was written, nor by whom it was sen* 

Titus was deputed to preach the gospel in Dalmatia ; and he was 
still there in the year 65, when the apostle wrote his second Epistle to 
Timothy. He afterwards returned into Crete ; from which it is said 
he propagated the gospel into the neighboring islands. He died at 
the age of 94, and was buried in Crete. We are assured that the 
Cathedral of the city of Candia is dedicated to his name, and that his 
head is preserved there entire. The Greeks keep his festival on the 
25th of August, and the Latins on the 4th of January. 



THE VIRGIN MARY. 

As we are taught by the predictions of the Prophets, that a Virgin 
was to be the mother of the promised Messiah, so we are assured, by 
the unanimous concurrence of the Evangelists, that this Virgin's name 
was Mary, the daughter of Joachim and Anna, of the tribe of Judah ; 
and married to Joseph of the same tribe. The scripture, indeed, tells 
us no more of the blessed Virgin's parents, than that she was of the 
family of David. 

What is said concerning the birth of Mary and her parents, is to be 
found only in some aprocryphal writings, but which, however, are 
very ancient. St. John says, that Mary the wife of Cleophas, was the 
Virgin's sister Mary, that she was of the royal race of David. She 
was allied likewise to the family of Aaron, since Elizabeth the wife 
of Zacharias, and mother of John the Baptist, was her cousin. 



A X D HOLY WOMEX. 



543 



It is generally believed by the church that the Virgin, in the mid- 
summer of the year 5, B. C, was living at the house of her parents in 
Xazareth, not having yet been taken by Joseph to his home. Being 
at this time betrothed to Joseph, she was by the Jewisli law and cus- 
tom regarded as his wife, and is so spoken of in the New Testament, 
although he had not as yet acquired a husband's rights over her, it 
being the design of God that she should remain a pure Virgin, until 
lier Holv Child should be born. Isaiah had long before prophesied 
that "a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son," and St. Matthew, in 
writing of this wonderful occurrence, says, " The Virgin was espoused 
to Joseph ; and that before they came together, she was found to be 
with child of the Holy Ghost." 

While betrothed or married to Joseph, the Virgin was visited by 
the angel Gabriel, who had already informed Zacharias of the ap- 
proaching birth of John the Baptist, and who now informed her that 
she had been chosen by God to be the mother of the long-promised 
Messiah. Mary asked him " how that could be, since she knew no 
man?" To which the angel replied, " That the Holy Ghost should 
come upon her, and the power of the Highest should overshadow 
her ; so that she should conceive without the concurrence of any man." 

To confirm what he had said to her, and show that nothing is im- 
possible to God, he informed her that her cousin Elizabeth, then old 
and reputed barren, was already in the sixth month of her pregnancy. 
Mary answered him, " Behold the handmaid of the Lord ; be it unto 
me according to thy word." And by the miraculous power of the 
Holy Ghost, she presently conceived the Son of God ; the true Eman- 
uel, that is to say, " G.od with us." 

Soon after this she set out for Hebron, in order to visit her cousin 
Elizabeth, and congratulate her upon her pregnancy ; and no sooner 
had she entered the house, and began to speak, than upon Elizabeth's 
hearing the voice of Mary's salutation, her child, young John the 
Baptist, transported with supernatural emotions of joy, leaped in her 
womb. Immediately Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, 
which enabled her to comprehend the mystery of the incarnation, and 
returned Mary's salutation in the beautiful outburst recorded by St. 
Luke, " Blessed art thou amongst women," etc. , "Whereupon Mary 
broke forth into praises of God, saying, " My soul doth magnify the 
Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour," etc. 

Mary continued with her cousin for three months, until the birth 
of Elizabeth's son, after which she returned to her own house. 



544 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



About the time that her own delivery approached, Maiy went up 
from Nazareth, with Joseph her husband, to Bethlehem, the city of 
David, from whom both of them were descended, in order to be regis- 
tered by the Roman authorities for the purpose of being taxed with 
the rest of the Jews, in accordance with the decree of Caesar Augustus. 
This was in the year of the world 4,000, and in the first year of the 
Christian era. Upon reaching Bethlehem, they found every place in 
the city occupied by visitors, and were compelled to take up their 
lodging in a stable, which some writers have asserted was a cave in 
the rocks. Here, in this humble place, the Lord of life and King of 
glory, the holy infant Jesus, was born, and was wrapped by his mother 
in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. 

It was commonly believed that Christ was born at midnight, or a 
few minutes after, on the night succeeding the arrival of the Virgin at 
Bethlehem. In consequence of this ancient tradition, the Roman 
Catholic Church celebrates a solemn mass at midnight of Christmas 
eve, and in Europe the church bells greet the anniversary of the glad 
event with their merriest peals. 

The Virgin remained for some time at Bethlehem, and while there 
the Holy Child was visited by the Wise Men of the East, who had 
seen His star, and had come to worship Him and bring Him gifts. But 
before this, forty days after the birth of her Son, the time of the 
Virgin's purification having come, she went to Jerusalem with her 
husband in order to present her Child in the Temple, and there to 
offer the sacrifice appointed by the law for the purification of women 
after child-birth. 

While still in the Temple, there came to her an old man named 
Simeon, to whom the Holy Ghost had revealed the Divine character 
of the Babe. Taking the little Jesus in his arms, Simeon blessed God 
that he had been permitted to see the salvation of Israel ; and then, 
turning to Mary, said — " This Child is sent for the rising and falling 
of many in Israel ; and for a sign which shall be spoken against 
you ; even so far as that thine own soul shall be pierced as with a 
sword, that the secret thoughts in the hearts of many may be dis- 
covered." 

Soon after this, Joseph and Mary prepared to return to their own 
country of Nazareth ; but the former being warned of God in a 
dream of Herod's cruel designs against the infant Jesus, they fled into 
E rypt with the child, where they remained until the death of Herod, 
when they returned to their own country, and made their abode in 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



545 



Nazareth, not daring to go to Bethlehem, which was in the territory 
of Archelaus, the son and successor of Herod the Great. 

Joseph and Mary were regular in their attendance upon the Feast 
of the Passover, and when Jesus was twelve years old, took him up 
to Jerusalem with them. When they set out for home, Jesus re- 
mained behind in the city, and his mother and her husband failing 
to find him in the company with which they journeyed, returned to 
Jerusalem, and after three days' seeking, found him in the temple, in 
the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them questions, 
and astonishing all with the wisdom of his questions and replies. 
His mother tenderly reproached him for causing her so much anxiety : 
a Behold your father and myself, who have sought you in great 
affliction !" Jesus answered them, " Why did you seek me ? Did 
you not know that I must be employed about my Father's business ?" 
Afterwards he returned to Nazareth with them, and lived in filial 
submission to them. Mary did not forget his words to her in the 
temple, but kept them fresh in her memory. 

In the thirty-third year of Jesus Christ, and thirtieth of the vulgar 
era, our Saviour resolved to manifest himself to the world, and there- 
fore went to the baptism of St. John — from thence into the wilder- 
ness — and thence to the wedding at Cana, in Galilee, to which he 
with his mother and disciples had been invited. 

At this entertainment, the provision of wine being somewhat 
scanty, Christ's mother told her Son they had no wine, not doubting 
of his power to supply them. To which Jesus answered, in terms 
which had some appearance of a rebuke — " Woman, what have I to 
do with thee ? Mine hour is not yet come." 

Mary, in thus appealing to her Son, invoked His Divine power, 
with which she had no connection, and over which she as a mortal 
could exercise no control or influence. Christ never failed to accord 
her the tenderest reverence as a son ; but when he was acting as God, 
he never failed to remind her that she, like all others, must wait 
patiently His own good time for doing PI is works, which were not to 
be wrought out of any private, partial, or civil views, but in pursu- 
ance of that great end which he had in charge, the conversion and 
salvation of mankind. And so his mother understood him upon this 
occasion, receiving the answer with meekness, and charging the ser- 
vants to attend him, and do whatever he commanded them. Shortly 
after, knowing that a display of his power would do great good 
towards preparing the hearts of men to receive his doctrines, our 
35 



546 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



blessed Lord performed the miracle of changing a large quantity of 
water into excellent wine ; and this was the first miracle which he 
wrought at the beginning of his public ministry. 

From Cana our Lord went to Capernaum, with his mother and 
brethren, where it seems certain that he provided a permanent home 
for the Virgin Mary, at which she continued during his public minis- 
try. There is much dispute on this point between the early Fathers, 
but the statement we have made seems to rest upon the best proofs. 

Some time after this, while our Lord was teaching in a house at 
Capernaum, his mother and brethren, having heard a report mali- 
ciously circulated by the Pharisees, that he had lqgt his mind, hurried 
to the place to learn the cause of the rumor. Being unable to enter 
the house because of the crowd, they caused intelligence of their 
presence to be conveyed to him. The message was communicated to 
the Saviour at the instant that he was engaged in the work of his 
ministry, preaching the wore 1 of God. He at once replied, " Who is 
my mother, and Avho are my brethren ?" and looking upon those that 
were round about him, he said, " these are my mother and brethren 
declaring, that " Whosoever did the will of his heavenly Father, the 
same was his mother, and sister, and brother." This was what Christ 
had taught in another place, that we must prefer God to all human 
relations, and give the preference to his service. But this saying could 
not reflect upon his mother, who was among the principal of those who 
did the will of his heavenly Father. Immediately upon her approach, 
a woman of the company said with a loud voice, directing her words 
to Jesus, " Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which 
thou hast sucked." To which he replied, " Yea, rather, blessed are 
they that hear the word of God, and keep it." Not intimating hereby 
that she who had the honor to bear him, did not deserve to be called 
blessed throughout all generations ; but that even her happiness con- 
sisted more in doing the will of Christ than in giving him a human 
body. 

From this time we hear no more of the Holy Virgin until we find 
tier at Jerusalem, at the last passover our Saviour celebrated there. 
She was an eye-witness to all the trials and sufferings of our blessed 
Lord, and when all his disciples deserted him, remained with him. 
She followed him to Calvary, and there bore the great sorrow which 
thirty-six years before o*Id Simeon had predicted for her; the swordj 
indeed, pierced her soul. She had, however, the consolation of en- 
joying the last care which the dying Saviour bestowed upon any 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



54T 



nuruan being. As he was about to yield up his soul, he saw his own 
mother weeping at the foot of the cross, ready to die with him, if it 
were his will, and his beloved disciple St. John, close by. Conquering 
his agony for a moment, he bequeathed her to the care of the disciple, 
saying to her, " Woman, behold thy son •" and to the disciple, " Be- 
hold thy mother 
and from that hour 
the disciple took 
her home to his 
own house. 

It is not to be 
doubted, that our 
Saviour appeared 
to his holy mother 
immediately after 
his resurrection ; 
and that she was 
the first, or, at 
least, one of the 
first, to whom he 
vouchsafed this 
great consolation. 

St. Luke ac- 
quaints us in the 
first chapter of the 
Acts of the Apos- 
tles, that the Vir- 
gin Mary was with 
the apostles and 
others at his ascen- 
sion, and continued 
with them when 
assembled at Jeru- 
salem after his as- 
cension waiting for 

the descent of the Holy Ghost; and it is probable that from her they 
learned the whole history of our Lord's private lif< before his baptism ; 
though St. Chrysostom will have them to be ta? ght it by revelation. 
After this she dwelt in the house of St. John the Evangelist, who 
took care of her as of his own mother. It is th. ught that he took her 




FINDING OF MOSES. 



548 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 



along with him to Ephesus, where she died in an extreme old age; 
and there is a letter of the oecumenical council of Ephesus, importing, 
that in the fifth century it was believed she was buried there. 

Yet this opinion was not so universally received but that some au- 
thors of the same age think the Virgin Mary died and was buried at 
Jerusalem ; or, rather, in the sepulchre at Gethsemane, near that city, 
where, to this day, it is shown as a magnificent church dedicated to 
her name. 

The sentiments of the Romish Church are that she is dead. A 
portion of the members of this creed hold that she has risen again, 
otkers assert that she remains like the rest of mortality awaiting the 
general resurrection at the last day. 

With regard to the age at which she died, and the precise year of 
her death, it is needless to trouble ourselves about this inquiry ; since 
nothing can be said on these matters but what is very doubtful ; and 
they cannot be fixed but at random. 



JOSEPH, THE HUSBAND OF MARY. 

Holy Scripture has vouchsafed to us very little information con- 
cerning Joseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary, and the reputed 
father of Jesus Christ • and what we do know has been already set 
forth in the chapters of this work relating to the Saviour and the 
Virgin, so that Ave can merely* repeat here what has been already 
written. 

Joseph was the son of Heli, and of the house and lineage of David. 
He was a just man, and feared God, and, according to the tradition 
of the church, was a widower at the time of his betrothal to the Vir- 
gin. He lived at Nazareth, in Galilee, and it is believed that his 
family had resided in that place for many generations back, as had 
also the family of the Virgin, since Matthat, the common grand- 
father of both Joseph and Mary, had been a resident of Nazareth. 

He espoused Mary, his cousin, the daughter and heir of his uncle 
Jacob, but, according to the custom of the country, allowed her to re- 
main with her parents for some time after this. While she remained 
there lie made the discovery that she was already with child, a dis- 
covery which caused him to abandon all thoughts of consummating 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



549 



his marriage with her, and set him to devising means for putting her 
away. He had not a doubt that she had deceived him, and had been 
a partner to some shameful intrigue. He loved her very tenderly, in 
spite of what he deemed her fault, and was not willing to put her 
away publicly upon the ground of unchastity, for the Jewish law 
punished that crime with death. He resolved, therefore, to put her 
away privately, which, according to the custom of his nation, he had 
a right to do ; and while revolving these things in his mind, he was 
overcome by a gentle slumber, in which he received a revelation from 
God, acquainting him with the miraculous manner in which his be- 
trothed wife had conceived her child ; telling him of the divine char- 
acter of her offspring, and convincing him of the perfect purity of his 
most favored bride. He awoke joyfully, fully convinced by the 
heavenly vision, and, hastening to Mary, told her of his trust in her, 
and his perfect belief in her goodness and purity. He then took her 
to his home, as his wife, but had no carnal knowledge of her until 
after the birth of her first-born Son, the holy Jesus. 

Some time after this he went, with his wife, up to Bethlehem, the 
city of their forefathers, that they might there be enrolled on the Ro- 
man register, for the purpose of being taxed ; and, while there, Joseph 
was a witness to the birth of the Saviour and the visit of the shep- 
herds. He also went with Mary and the Child to present the latter 
in the Temple, and heard the words of the venerable Simeon, when 
that aged man recognized the infant Messiah. He was present when 
the wise men of the East brought their gifts and paid their homage 
to the Child, and received the heavenly warning which caused the 
flight of the Holy Family into Egypt, to avoid Herod's barbarous 
cruelty. To him also was the summons addressed which called them 
back to the land of Israel. It was his intention to make his residence 
at Bethlehem, in Judea ; but hearing that Herod the Great had been 
succeeded by his son, Archelaus, he feared that the new ruler might 
seek to carry out the barbarous purpose of his father, and seek to 
destroy the Messiah, and accordingly went to his old home, at Naza- 
reth, where he fixed his abode, and pursued his trade as a carpenter. 
When our Saviour was' twelve years old, Joseph took him, with Mary 
and himself, to attend the passover at Jerusalem, and there the child 
Jesus tarried after the departure of Joseph and the Virgin. Being 
recovered by them, Jesus went with them to Nazareth, where he re- 
mained with them until he grew to manhood. Joseph continued to 
act the part of a father to him, and was commonly regarded as his 
parent. 



550 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 



Here oar knowledge of Joseph ends. From this time the evan- 
gelists are silent concerning him, and all that is asserted regarding 
liim, is based upon very unreliable traditions. It seems certain that 
he died before the crucifixion : for it is hardly probable that our Lord 
would have left his mother to the care of St. John, had her husband 
been living. 

Joseph is held in high honor in the Roman Catholic Church, and 
his festival is celebrated on the 19th of March. 



MARY, THE SISTER OF LAZARUS. 

This holy woman has been preposterously confounded with the sin- 
ful person who sat at the feet of the blessed Jesus weeping, while he 
was at meat in the house of Simon the leper. Luke vii. 37. Who 
this sinner was is unknown ; some will have her to be Mary Mag- 
dalene, but this opinion has nothing more than conjecture for its 
basis. 

But whoever this sinner was, she was a very different person from 
Mary, the sister of Lazarus, who, with her sister Martha, lived with 
their brother at Bethany, a village near Jerusalem. The blessed Jesus 
had a particular affection for this family, and ofter retired to their 
house with his disciples. 

One day, and perhaps the first time that Jesus went thither, Martha 
received him with remarkable affection, and took the greatest pains 
in providing a proper entertainment for him ; but Mary, her sister, 
continued sitting at our Saviour's feet, listening to his words with 
peculiar attention. 

This Martha considered as an instance of disrespect, and, therefore, 
said to Jesus, " Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me 
to serve alone ? bid her, therefore, that she help me." But the blessed 
Jesus justified Mary, by telling her sister, "that she had chosen the 
better part, which should not be taken from her." 

Some time after, their brother Lazarus was taken sick, and his 
sisters sent to acquaint Jesus of the misfortune ; but he did not arrive 
at Bethany till after Lazarus was dead. Martha hearing that Jesus 
was come into the neighborhood, went and told him, that if he had 
not been absent, her brother had been still alive. 



552 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



Jesus promised her that her brother should rise again. To which 
Martha answered, " I know that he shall rise again, at the last day." 
Jesus replied, " I am the resurrection and the life ; he that believeth 
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live ; and whosoever liveth 
and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this ?" Martha 
answered, " Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of 
God, which should come into the world." 

Having said this she departed and gave her sister notice privately, 
that Jesus was come. Mary, as soon as she heard the welcome tidings, 
arose and went to Jesus ; and as Martha had done before her, said, 
" Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." The 
blessed Jesus was greatly moved at the pathetic complaints of these 
two worthy sisters, and on asking where they had buried him, they 
conducted him to the sepulchre. 

On his arrival at the place where the body of Lazarus was deposited, 
the great Redeemer of mankind groaned deeply in his spirit ; he wept, 
lie prayed to his Father, and then cried with a loud voice, " Lazarus, 
come forth." The dead obeyed the voice of the Son of God. Laza- 
rus immediately revived, and Jesus restored him to his sisters. 

After performing this stupendous miracle, Jesus departed from the 
neighborhood of Jerusalem, and did not return thither till some days 
before the passover. • 

Six days before that festival Jesus again came to Bethany, with hk 
disciples, and was invited to a supper at the house of Simon the lepei 
— Martha attended, and Lazarus was one of the guests. 

During the supper, Mary, to express her gratitude, took a pound 
of spikenard, a very precious perfume, and poured it on the head and 
feet of Jesus, wiping his feet with the hair of her head ; and the whole 
house was filled with the odor of the ointment. 

Judas Iscariot was highly offended at this generous action ; but his 
Master vindicated Mary, and told him, that by this she had prevented 
his embalment, thereby signifying, that his death and burial was near 
at hand. 

After this, we have no account of Mary, the sister of Lazarus, in 
the sacred writings. Several authors, indeed, by not distinguishing 
properly between Mary the sister of Martha, and Mary Magdalene, 
say, that she was present at the crucifixion of the great Redeemer of 
mankind, and also that both she and her sister accompanied the 
women who went to embalm the body. This is not, indeed, improba- 
ble ; but it is certain, neither of them are particularly mentioned by 
the evangelists 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



553 



The ancient Latins believed, and the Greeks are still of the same 
opinion, that both Martha and Mary continued at Jerusalem, and 
died there ; and several ancient martyrologists place their feast on the 
19th of January. 



JOSEPH. 

Joseph, or Joses, was the son of Mary Cleophas, brother to St. 
James the less, and a near relation to the blessed Jesus, according to 
the flesh ; being the son of Mary, the Holy Virgin's sister, and Cleo- 
phas, who was Joseph's brother, or son to Joseph himself, as several 
of the ancients suppose ; who have asserted that Joseph was married 
to Mary Cleophas, or Eschat, before he was married to the Holy 
Virgin. 

Some believe Joseph, the son of Mary Cleophas, to be the same 
with Joseph Barsabas, surnamed the Just, who is mentioned in the 
Acts of the Apostles, and was proposed to St. Matthias to fill up the 
traitor Judas's place; but in this there is no certainty at all. 

We learn nothing particular in scripture concerning Joseph, the 
brother of our Lord. If he was one of those among his near kins- 
men who did not believe in him, when they would have persuaded 
him to go to the feast of tabernacles, some months before our Saviour's 
death, it is probable that he was afterwards converted, for it is intima- 
ted in scripture, that at last all our Saviour's brethren believed in him 



JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA. 

Joseph of Arimathea, or of Ranatha, Rama, or Ramula, a city 
between Joppa and Jerusalem, was a Jewish senator, and privately a 
disciple of Jesus Christ. He was not consenting to the designs of 
the rest of the Jews, particularly the members of the sanhedrim, who 
condemned and put Jesus to death : and when our Saviour was dead, 
he went boldly to Pilate, and desired the body of Jesus in order to 
bury it. 

This he obtained : and accordingly buried it after an honorable 
manner, in a sepuh'hre newly made in a garden, which was upon the 



554 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 



same Mount Calvary where Jesus had been crucified — After he had 
placed it there, he closed the entrance of it with a stone cut particu- 
larly for this purpose, and which exactly filled the open part of it. 

The Greek church keeps the festival of Joseph of Arimathea, on the 
31st of July. 

We do not meet with his name in the Old Latin Martyrologists ; 
nor was it inserted in the Roman till after the year 1585. The body 
of Joseph of Arimathea was, it is said, brought to the Abbey of Moy- 
enmontier, by Fortunatus, Archbishop of Grada, to whom Charle- 
magne had given this monastery under the denomination of a bene- 
fice. 

Here his remains were honored till the tenth age, but then the 
monastery being given to canons, Avho continued seventy years there, 
the relics were carried away by some foreign monks, and so lost with 
many others. 



NICODEMUS. 

Nicodemus, one of the disciples of our blessed Saviour, was a Jew 
by nation, and by sect a Pharisee. The gospel calls him a ruler of the 
Jews ; and Christ gives him the name of a master of Israel. 

When our Saviour began to manifest himself by his miracles at 
Jerusalem, at the first passover which he celebrated there after 
his baptism, Nicodemus made no doubt but that he was the Mes- 
siah, and came to him by night, that he might learn of him the way 
to salvation. 

Jesus told him, that no one could see the kingdom of heaven, ex- 
cept he should be born again. Nicodemus, taking this in the literal 
sense, made answer, " How can a man be born again ? Can he enter 
a second time into his mother's womb?" To which Jesus replied, 
" If a man be not born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into 
the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and 
that which is born of the spirit, is spirit." 

Nicodemus asked him, "How can these things be?" Jesus an- 
swered, "Art thou a master of Israel, and ignorant of these things? 
We tell you what we know, and you receive not our testimony. If 
you believe not common things, and which may be called earthly, how 
will ye believe me if I speak to you of heavenly things ? And as 



556 



LIYES OP* THE APOSTLES 



Moses lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son 
of man be lifted up on high ; for God has so loved the world that he 
has given his only Son, so that no man who believes in him shall 
perish, but shall have eternal hfe ; for God sent his Son into the 
world, that the world through him might be saved." 

After this conversation, Nicodemus became a disciple of Jesus 
Christ ; and there is no doubt to be made but he came to hear him as 
often as our Saviour came to Jerusalem. 

It happened, on a time, that the priests and Pharisees had sent of- 
ficers to seize Jesus, who returned to them and made this report, that 
never man spake as he did. To which the Pharisees replied, " Are 
ye also of his disciples ? Is there any one of the elders or Pharisees 
that have believed in him?" Then Nicodemus thought himself 
obliged to make answer, saying, " Does the law permit us to condemn 
any one before he is heard?" To which they replied,, " Are you also 
a Galilean ? Read the scriptures, and you will find that never 
any prophet came out of Galilee." After this the council was dis- 
missed. 

At last Nicodemus declared himself openly a disciple of Jesua 
Christ, when he came with Joseph of Arimathea to pay the last du- 
ties to the body of Christ crucified, which they took down from the 
cross, embalmed, and laid in the sepulchre. 

Nicodemus received baptism from the disciples of Christ ; but it is 
uncertain whether before or after his passion. 

The Jews being informed of this, deposed him from his dignity of 
senator, excommunicated, and drove him from Jerusalem. It is said 
also, that they would have put him to death, but that in considera- 
tion of Gamaliel, who was his uncle, or cousin-german, they con- 
tented themselves with beating him almost to death, and plundering 
his goods. 

Gamaliel conveyed him to his country house, and provided him 
with what was necessary for his support ; and when he died, Gamaliel 
buried him honorably near St. Stephen. 

His body was discovered in 415, together with those of St. Stephen 
and Gamaliel, and the Latin church pays honor to all three, on the 
3d of August. 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



65T 



JOHN MARK. 

John Mark, cousin to St. Barnabas, and a disciple of his, was the 
son of a Christian woman named Mary, who had a house in Jerusa- 
lem, where the apostles and the faithful generally used to meet. Here 
they were at prayers in the night, when St. Peter, who was delivered 
out of prison by the angel, came and knocked at the door ; and in this 
house the celebrated church of Zion was said to have been afterwards 
established. 

John Mark, whom some very improperly confound with the Evan- 
gelist St. Mark, adhered to St. Paul and St. Barnabas, and followed 
them in their return to Antioch. He continued in their company and 
service till they came to Perga in Pamphylia, but then seeing 
that they were undertaking a longer journey, he left them, and re- 
turned to Jerusalem. This happened in the year 45 of the com- 
mon era. 

Some years afterwards, that is to say, in the year 51, Paul and 
Barnabas, preparing to return into Asia, in order to visit the churches 
which they had formed there, Barnabas was of opinion that John 
Mark should accompany them in this journey, but Paul would not 
consent to it. Upon which occasion these two apostles separated. 

Paul went to Asia, and Barnabas, with John Mark, to the isle of 
Cyprus. What John Mark did after this journey we do not know, 
till we find him at Rome, in the year 63, performing signal service 
for St. Paul during his imprisonment. 

The apostle speaks advantageously of him in his Epistle to the 
Colossians : " Marcus, sister's son to Barnabas, saluteth you. If he 
cometh unto you, receive him." He makes mention of him again in 
his Epistle to Philemon, written in the year 62, at which time he was 
with St. Paul at Rome : but in the year 65 he was with Timothy in 
Asia. And St. Paul, writing to Timothy, desires him to bring Mar- 
cus to Rome ; adding, that he was useful to him for the ministry of 
the gospel. 

In the Greek and Latin churches, the festival of John Mark is kept 
on the 27th of September. Some say that he was bishop of Biblis, 
in Phoenicia. The Greeks give him the title of apostle, and say that 
the sick were cured by his shadow only. 

It is very probable that he died at Ephesus, where his tomb was 
very much celebrated and resorted to. He is sometimes called simply 



558 



LIYES OP THE APOSTLES 



John, or Mark. The year of his death we are strangers to ; and 
shall not collect all that is said of him in apocryphal and uncertain 
authors. 



CLEMENT. 

Clement is mentioned by St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Philippi- 
ans, where the apostle says that Clement's name is written in the book 
of life. The generality of the fathers, and other interpreters, make 
no question but that this is the same Clement who succeeded St. Paul, 
after Linus and Cletus, in the government of the church of Rome ; 
and this seems to be intimated, when in the office of St. Clement's 
day, that church appoints this part of the Epistle to the Philippians 
to be read. 

During his pontificate, the Church of Corinth having been dis- 
turbed by a spirit of division, St. Clement wrote a large letter to the 
Corinthians, which is still extant, and was so much esteemed by the 
ancients, that they read it publicly in many churches, and some have 
been inclined to range it among the canonical writings. The Empe- 
ror Domitian intended to declare war against the church of Christ. 
His design was made known to Hermas, and he ordered to give a 
copy of it to Clement, that he might communicate it to other churches, 
and exhort them to provide against a storm. 

We have no certain account of what happened to St. Clement 
during this persecution ; but we are very well assured that he lived 
to the third year of Trajan. 

His festival is set down by Bede, and all the Latin Martyrologies, 
on the 23d of November. The Greeks honor him on the 24th and 
25th of the same month. Rufinus, and Pope Zozimas, give him the 
title of Martyr; and the Eoman church, in its canon, places him 
among the saints who have sacrificed their lives for Jesus Christ. 

We read in ancient history, to the authenticity of which, however, 
there are some exceptions, that St. Clement was banished by Trajan 
to the Chersonesus, beyond the Euxine sea ; besides other particulars 
in the history, which we shall not mention, as not being well-authen- 
ticated. 



AND HOLY WOMEN 



559 



MARY MAGDALENE. 

Mary Magdalene was a native either of Magdala, a town in 
Galilee, on the other side Jordan, or Magdalos, a town situated at the 
foot of Mount Carmel, and had her surname from the place of her 
birth. 

Some will have it, that she was the sinner mentioned by St. Luke, 
chap. vii. 37, etc. ; but this opinion is built only on conjecture. The 
evangelists, Luke and Mark, tell us that Jesus had cast out of her 
seven devils : which some understand in a literal, and others in a 
figurative sense. 

But, however this be, she became a constant attendant on the 
blessed Jesus, after he had removed her plague. She was amongst 
the most devoted of all his followers, and went with him to Mount 
Calvary, and stood with the holy Virgin in the midst of his perse- 
cutors and murderers, at the foot of his cross. She saw his body laid 
in the tomb, and then went back to Jerusalem to purchase spices to 
embalm him as soon as the Sabbath was over. At the earliest dawn, 
on the first day of the week, she, with Salome and Mary, the mother 
of James, went to the sepulchre to perform their loving work, but the 
body was gone. This seemed to fill her cup of bitterness to the brim, 
and it was her voice that broke out into the sharp wail of anguish, 
" They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know 
not where they have laid him." Her Lord had lain there, in that 
now tenantless grave, and she could not go away, even when the 
other disciples had departed to their own house, satisfied that the 
body had been carried away, but stood by the sepulchre weeping. 
At last, she summoned self-control enough to look into the sepulchre, 
perhaps in the fond hope that the body of her Lord might be there 
after all. Then, for the first time, she beheld the angels, and had 
scarcely repeated her question to them, when, rising from her stoop- 
ing posture, she saw the Lord standing by her. But grief had blinded 
her eyes, and she did not know him. It needed but one word — ■ 
"Mary" — to proclaim her risen Lord; and crying, " Rabboni," the 
strongest word a Hebrew woman could use, she cast herself at his 
feet in a transport of joy. Her happiness would have been complete, 
could she have remained there always, clinging to him. Her love, 
however, Avas too dej)endent on the visible presence of her Master. 
" She had the same lesson to learn as the other disciples. Though 



660 



LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 



they had ' known Christ after the flesh/ they were ' henceforth to 
know him so no more/ She was to hear that truth in its highest and 
sharpest form. 'Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my 
Father/ " 

She was charged to tell the apostles of the resurrection of the Lord, 
and at once communicated the glad tidings to Peter and John, who, 
however, did not believe her report till it was confirmed by others, 
and they themselves had seen the Saviour of the world. 

We have no further account of Mary Magdalene in the sacred 
writings. But Modestus, the Archbishop of Constantinople, in the 
seventh century, tells us, that she continued at Jerusalem till the death 
of the holy Virgin, after which she retired to Ephesus, and resided with 
St. John, till she sealed the faith she had so long professed with her 
blood. She was buried by the Christians at Ephesus, where the 
tomb was shown in the seventh century. The Emperor, Leo the 
Wise, caused her body to be removed from Ephesus to Constantino- 
ple, about the latter end of the ninth century, in order to its being 
interred in the church erected to the honor of the apostles. 



ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 

John the Baptist was of the priestly race by both parents ; for 
his father Zacharias was himself a priest of the course of Abia or Abi- 
gail, and his mother Elizabeth was of the daughters of Aaron. Eliza- 
beth was cousin to Mary, the mother of our Lord, so that the forerunner 
was the near kinsman of the Messiah. 

It was the office of Zacharias to burn incense before the Lord in the 
temple, and to pray for the public welfare of Israel, and it was while 
he was engaged in the discharge of these duties that the angel ap- 
peared to him, and told him that he was soon to become a father, and 
explained to him the divine mission which should fall to the lot of his 
son ; a mission which was the subject of prophecy many centuries be- 
fore the announcement of the angel. These marvellous revelations as 
to the birth of his son, which was not according to the laws of nature, 
and as to his character and career, were too much for the faith of 
Zacharias, and he openly expressed his doubts of the declaration of the 
heavenly messenger. For these doubts he was punished by the loss 
of his speech until his child's birth. 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



561 




And now the Lord's goodness tarried not. Elizabeth, for greater 
privacy, retired into the hill country, whither she was soon after fol- 
lowed by her kinswoman Mary. Three months after this, and while 
Mary still remained with her, she was delivered of a son. The birth 
of John preceded, by six months, that of our Lord. 

On the eighth day the child of promise was, in conformity with 
the law of Moses, brought to the priest for circumcision, and as the 
performance of this rite was the accustomed time for naming a child, 
the friends of the family proposed to call him Zacharias, after the name 
of his father. The mother, however, required that he should be called 
John ; a decision which Zacharias, still speechless, confirmed by writing 
on a tablet, u his name is John." The judgment on his want of faith 
was then at once withdrawn. 

A single verse contains all we know with certainty of John's his- 
tory, for a space of thirty years, the whole period which elapsed be- 
36 



562 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES 

tween his birth and the beginning of his public ministry. " The child 
grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day 
of his showing unto Israel." Luke i. 80. There is a tradition, that 
when Herod sent forth to kill the children around Bethlehem, Eliza- 
beth fled to the desert witli the infant John, and died there soon after, 
and that the child was nurtured in a miraculous manner from 
Heaven, until he grew to be old enough to provide for himself. 

John was ordained to be a Nazarite from his birth. Luke i. 15. 
Dwelling by himself in the wild and thinly-peopled region westward 
of the Dead Sea, he prepared himself by self-discipline, and by con- 
stant communion with God, 
for the wonderful office to 
which he had been divinely 
called. The very appear- 
ance of the holy Baptist 
was, of itself, a lesson to his 
countrymen; his dress was 
that of the old prophets — a 
garment woven of camel's 
hair, attached to the body by 
a leathern girdle. His food 
was such as the desert 
alforded — locusts and wild 
honey. 

At length, being fully 
prepared for his mission, 
this great preacher of the 
approaching salvation came 
up out of the wilderness 
the high priest. into the more thickly popu- 

lated portions of Judaea. 
It was a time at which all the nations of the eastern world, the 
Jews in particular, were looking for the coming of some great person, 
who should bring great good to mankind. Suddenly, while Judaea 
was waiting in this vague expectancy, there was heard "the voice of 
one crying in the wilderness/' the wild, impassionate eloquence of 
John, calling on the people of the land to "repent for the King- 
dom of Heaven is at hand." His wonderful eloquence and his strange 
appearance drew large crowds to hear him, and he taught them a doc- 
trine which was new to them — that of repentance. This was the 




AND HOLY WOMEN. 



563 




THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 

burden of all his exhortations — repentance, not mere legal ablution or 
expiation, but a change of heart and life. His preaching was crowned 
with a great success. Many of every class pressed forward to confess 
their sins and to be baptized. The preparatory baptism of John was 
a visible sign to the people, and a distinct acknowledgment by them, 
that a hearty renunciation of sin and a real amendment of life were 
necessary for admission into the Kingdom of Heaven, which the 
Baptist proclaimed to be at hand. There was, however, a fundamental 
distinction between John's baptism unto repentance, . and that baptism 
accompanied with the gift of the Holy Spirit which our Lord after- 
wards ordained, and which John himself clearly pointed out to his 
converts : " I, indeed, baptize you with water unto repentance : but he 
that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy 
to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." 
Matt. iii. 11. 

The mission of the Baptist — an extraordinary one for an extra- 
ordinary purpose— was not limited to those who had openly forsaken 
the covenant of God, and so forfeited its principles. It was to the 
whole people alike. Jesus himself came from Galilee to Jordan to 
be baptized of John. It appears that John immediately, as it were 
by a prophetic revelation, knew the Saviour of the world, for we 



564 



LIVE.S OF THE APOSTLES 



find from the evangelist, that he acknowledged his superiority, and 
declined the office : " I have need to be baptized of thee, and coinest 
thou to me?" Our Saviour's answer, though short, is very full and 
expressive : " Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil 
all righteousness." As if he had said, Regard not the precedence at 
this time, but perform thy office ; for it is necessary that we should, in 
the minutest point, conform to the Divine Will, by which this insti- 
tution is enjoined. This remonstrance removed the objections of John, 
and he baptized the immaculate Jesus in the River Jordan, in the 
presence of numerous spectators. 

Jesus received at once a seal from heaven to his obedience by the 
voice that proclaimed him to be the Beloved Son, and by the descent 
of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. Above the sacred scene at 
the Jordan the heavens opened, as if all the celestial inhabitants were 
gazing intently, and it was shown that the Nazarene was greater than 
John, although, in order to fulfil all righteousness, he permitted the 
Baptist to perform the act which signified his spotless purity and his 
complete consecration. Thenceforth he was fully endowed for his 
public ministry. 

With the baptism of Jesus, John's more especial office ceased. He 
still continued, however, to present himself to his countrymen in the 
capacity of a witness to Jesus. From incidental notices in scripture, 
we learn that John and his disciples continued to baptize some time 
after our Lord had entered upon his public ministry. We gather, 
also, that John instructed his disciples in certain moral and religious 
duties, as fasting and prayer. But shortly after he had given his 
testimony to the Messiah, John's public ministry was brought to a 
close. In daring disregard of the divine laws, Herod Antipas had 
taken to himself the wife of his brother Philip; and when John re- 
proved him for this, as well as for other sins, Herod cast him into 
prison. He was confined in the Castle of Machaerus — a gloomy 
fortress lying on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. While he lan- 
guished here he heard reports of the many wonderful miracles which 
our Lord was working in Judea. With a view to overcome the 
scruples of his disciples, and convince them that this was indeed the 
very Christ, John sent two of them to Jesus himself, to ask the ques- 
tion, "Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" 
They were answered, not by words, but by a series of miracles 
wrought before their eyes ; and, while Jesus bade the two messengers 
carry back to John, as his only answer, the report of what they had 
seen and heard, he took occasion to guard the multitude that sur- 



AND HOLY WOMEN. 



565 



rounded him against supposing that the Baptist himself was shaken 
in mind, by a direct appeal to their own knowledge of his life and 
character. " Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of 
women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist." Matt, 
xi. 11. Jesus proceeds further to declare that John was, according 
to the true meaning of the prophecy, the Elijah of the new covenant, 
foretold by Malachi. 

Herod kept John a prisoner for some time, being anxious to put 
him to death, but being deterred from such a crime by his fear of the 
people, who regarded John as a prophet. His guilty wife, Herodias, 
was not so timid. John's stern denunciation of her criminal inter- 
course with Herod had aroused her fiercest resentment, and she was 
resolved that the holy man should pay for his boldness with his life. 
AVhile John lay in prison a great festival was held at the Castle of 
Machaerus, in honor of the king's birthday. After supper, Salome, 
the daughter of Herodias, came in and danced before the company, 
and so captivated the monarch with her grace, that he promised, with 
an oath, to give her whatever she should ask, even to the half of his 
kingdom. The damsel, prompted by her infamous mother, promptly 
demanded the head of John the Baptist. Herod still feared to put 
John to death, but nevertheless, for his oath's sake, gave orders for 
his instant execution. An officer of the guard w r ent at once to the 
prison, and, with his sword, struck off the head of the holy man, and 
brought it to the young girl, who carried it to her mother. The 
death of John is supposed to have occurred just before the third pass- 
over, in the course of the Lord's ministry. 




CITY OF REFUGE. 




566 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



ADAM. 

Holy Scripture assigns no date for the epoch of the creation. The 
books of Moses were designed for a people who believed implicitly in 
God, and they open with the simple statement that God created the 
earth in the beginning. It is stated that, previous to this, the con- 
dition of the earth and heavens was chaotic; and, in relating the 
manner in which the creation was accomplished, the divine narrative 
divides the great work into six successive stages, called days, and 
shows us that the Creator carried on this work in a progressive man- 
ner, beginning with the lowest and closing with the highest forms of 
being. Though these stages are called days by Moses, it is not quite 
certain that the word thus employed actually means a period of 
twenty-four hours. 

" On the First Day went forth the word of God — ' Let there be 
Light, and Light Was J Light broke over the face of the chaos : we 
are not told from what source, but probably through the floating 
vapors being now rare enough to be penetrated by the sun's light. 
It shone upon each part of the earth's surface that was exposed to it 
in turn, and so God divided the light from the darkness ; and God 
called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the 
evening and the morning were the First Day. 1 

" As yet the watery vapors, raised by intense heat, formed an en- 
velop of mist around the earth. They were now parted into two 
divisions, those which lie upon and hang about the surface of the 
earth, and those which float high above it. The blue heavens be- 
came visible, like a crystal vault, called the firmament (literally, 
expanse), because its appearance is that of an outspread covering, else- 
where likened to a tent. But the word chosen no more implies that 
the sky is really a solid vault, than that it is a canvas tent. It forms, 

567 



568 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



to the eye, the partition between the upper and lower heavens, be- 
tween ' the waters under the firmament and the waters above the 
firmament.' Such was the work of the Second Day. 

"Next began the tremendous upheavings and sinkings of the 
earth's crust, by the forces at work within it, which formed it into 
mountains and valleys, and provided channels and basins for the 
waters on its surface. These were now gathered into collections, 
which w T ere called Seas, while the name of Earth was applied, in a 
narrower sense than before, to the portions exposed above the waters. 
On these portions the germs of vegetation began at once to burst into 
life, forming grass and fruit trees. These had their seed in them- 
selves, after their kind. Here is the great law of reproduction ac- 
cording to species, on which depends the order of the vegetable and 
animal kingdoms. This was the work of the Third Day. 

"On the Fourth Day the Sun and Moon were seen in the firmament 
of heaven. The fact of their previous creation is involved in the sta- 
bility of the earth as a member of the Solar System, as well as in the 
appearance of light on the first day. It is not said that they were 
first created on the fourth day ; and of the stars, many of which must 
have existed myriads of years before their light reached the earth, it 
is simply said, ' He made the stars also/ not when he made them. In 
fact, the 'fourth day' seems to mark the period during which the air 
was cleared of its thick vapors, by the action of the plants and other 
causes, so that the heavenly bodies became visible. Stress is laid on 
their ruling as well as lighting the day and night. God said, ' Let 
them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years.' They 
were designed, as they have ever since been used, to mark out the 
periods of human life ; to inculcate the great lesson, that ' to every 
thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.' 

" Vegetables could live and flourish in a thick, moist atmosphere ; 
and the lower animal organizations could already be associated with 
them, though they had not been mentioned as yet, because not out- 
wardly visible. But now the larger animals appeared. First, the 
waters teemed with the ' creeping things,' and the ' great sea mon- 
sters,' with fishes and reptiles. Birds were produced at the same 
time, and might have been seen flying over the waters and in the 
open firmament of heaven. This was the work of the Fifth Day. 

"The Sixth Day witnessed the creation of the higher animals and 
Man. These were formed out of the earth, the chemical constituents 
of which are, in the main, the same as those of animal bodies. The 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



569 



latter, in fact, derive their materials from the vegetables, which have 
first derived theirs from the earth and water ; and all render back 
their gaseous atid fluid components to air and water, and their solids 
to the earth. 

" Max, the last created, for whom all the previous works was but 
a preparation, differed from all other creatures in being made like God. 
The depth and meaning contained in this statement, though partly 
revealed in the Son of God, the true head of our race, remains to be 
developed hereafter. But, at least, it includes intellectual and spirit- 
ual likeness, intel- 
ligence, moral 
power, and holi- 
ness. To man 
was given domin- 
ion over all other 
animals ; and both 
to him and them 
the plants were 
given for food. 
All were appointed 
to continue their 
species according 
to their own like- 
ness, and all were 
blessed with fer- 
tility ; but on the 
human race was 
pronounced the 
special blessing : — 
<l Be fruitful, and 
multiply, and re- 
plenish the earth, 
and subdue it :' — so that Man's lordship of the creation is a part of 
his original constitution. 

" On each of the works of the last four days God pronounced the 
blessing that it was very good — perfect in its kind — useful in its pur- 
pose — and entirely subject to his holy laws. 

" On the Seventh Day, God ceased from his finished works, rested, 
and blessed the day by the perpetual institution of the Sabbath. His 
rest, however, was not an entire cessation from activity. He had 
done creating, but he continued to sustain and bless his creatures." 




GARDEN" OF EDEN. 



570 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



Having made man, God called his name Adam, and placed him in 
a garden which " the Lord God had planted eastward in Eden," for the 
purpose of dressing it and keeping it. Adam was permitted to eat of 
the fruit of every tree in the garden but one, which was called the 
" tree of the knowledge of good and evil." What this was, it is im- 
possible to say. Its name would seem to indicate that it had the 
power of bestowing the consciousness of the difference between good 
and evil ; in the ignorance of which man's innocence and happiness 
consisted. The prohibition to taste the fruit of this tree was enforced 
by the menace of death. There was also another tree, which was called 
the " tree of life." Some suppose it to have acted as a kind of medi- 
cine, and that by the continual use of it, our first parents, not created 
immortal, were preserved from death. 

While Adam was in the Garden of Eden, the beasts of the field 
and the fowls of the air were brought to him to be named, and what- 
soever he called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 
Thus the power of fitly designating objects of sense was possessed by 
the first man, a faculty which is generally considered as indicating 
mature and extensive intellectual resources. Upon the failure of a 
companion, suitable for Adam, among the creatures thus brought to 
him to be named, the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon him, 
and took one of his ribs from him, which he fashioned into a woman, 
and brought her to the man. " And Adam said, This is now bone 
of my bone, and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called, Woman, be- 
cause she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a may leave his 
father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife : and they shall 
be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and 
were not ashamed." Gen. ii. 23-25. 

Man was placed in Paradise upon the condition that he should re- 
strain his appetite and self-will. God gave him every means of 
gratifying every lawful taste/ and simply forbade him to eat of the 
tree of the knowledge of good and evil. "In the day that thou eatest 
thereof, thou shalt surely die." The vast freedom which was granted 
him sufficiently proved the goodness of the Creator, and the restriction 
taught X\m that he was to live under a law ; and that law was en- 
forced by a practical penalty, of which he was mercifully warned. 
We must . ,ot regard the prohibition merely as a test of obedience, nor 
the penalty as arbitrary. The knowledge forbidden to him was of a 
kind which would corrupt his nature — so corrupt it, as to make him 
unfit, as well as unworthy to live forever. 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



571 



Satan, the chief of the fallen spirits, seeking to destroy the work of 
God, now endeavored to drag man down to his own level. He 
entered the garden in the form of a serpent and addressing himself to 
Eve, urged her to eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree, telling her 
that death would not follow the commission of the act, "for God doth 
know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be Opened, 
and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil/' The woman list- 
ened to the voice of the deceiver, ate of the fruit of the tree, and fell 
into the three-fold sin of sensuality, pleasure, and ambition. Having 
eaten she gave of the fruit to her husband, and he fell with her. 

In one point the devil had truly described the effect of eating the 
forbidden fruit. " Their eyes were opened." They had " become as 
gods" in respect of that knowledge of evil, as well as of good, which 
God had reserved to himself and mercifully denied to them. They 
became conscious of the working of lawless pleasure in place of purity, 
in the very constitution given them by God to perpetuate their race ; 
and they were ashamed because they were naked. Toward God they 
felt fear in place of love, and they fled to hide themselves from his 
presence among the trees of the garden. 

Thus they were already self-condemned before God called them 
forth to judgment. Then the man cast the blame upon the woman, 
and the woman upon the serpent ; and God proceeded to award a 
righteous sentence to each. 

The judgment passed upon the serpent is symbolical of the con- 
demnation of the devil. The creature, as Satan's instrument and type, 
is doomed to an accursed and degraded life ; and that enmity that has 
ever since existed between him and man is the symbol of the conflict 
between the powers of hell and all that is good in the human race. 

The woman is condemned to subjection to her husband, and sorrow 
and suffering in giving birth to her children ; but she had the consola- 
tion of hearing that her seed was to conquer in the battle with the 
serpent, crushing its head, after the reptile's had inflicted a deadly 
wound upon his heel. 

The man is shut up to a life of toil, and the earth is cursed for his 
sake, to bring forth, like himself, evil weeds, that require all his exer- 
tions to keep them down. But, as before, a promise is added; his 
labor shall not be without its reward — " in the sweat of thy brow, 
thou shalt eat bread" 

Reminded of the doom they had incurred, though its execution was 
postponed—" dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return " — and 



572 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



clothed by God's goodness with the skins of beasts, they were driven 
out of Paradise. An angelic guard, with a flaming sword, debarred 
them from returning to taste of the tree of life * for it would have 
perpetuated their suffering. 

"And Adam knew Eve his wife ; and she conceived and bare Cain, 
and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare 
his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a 
tiller of the ground." Gen. iv. 1, 2. 

The two brothers at one time brought the "first fruits" of their 
labors to offer them to God. Abel had led a life of purity, while 




SACRIFICE OF CAIN AND ABEL. 



Cain had passed his days in wickedness. Therefore, God preferred 
Abel's offering to that of Cain, and Cain, being rendered jealous of 
his brother, slew him. When God demanded his brother's blood at 
his hands, the murderer was overcome with the enormity of his 
crime, and was driven out into perpetual banishment from his family. 
He became, however, the father of a remarkable race. 

After the death of Abel, another son was born to Adam, and he called 
his name Seth. It must not be supposed, however, that Cain, Abel, and 
Seth were the only children of Adam. The inference is, that he had 
a numerous family; for the mention of Cain's wife (Gen. iv. 17), as 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 5T3 

well as his fear that men would slay him, are indications that the 
" replenishing of the earth " had made considerable progress before the 
death of Abel. 

" And all the days of Adam were nine hundred and thirty years ; 
and he died." 



NOAH. 

The name of Noah is very significant. It means rest or comfort, 
and it was given him by Lameeh, his father, who said, through pro- 
phetic inspiration, " This shall comfort us concerning our work and 
toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed." 
Gen. v. 29. These words seem to express a deeper weariness than 
that arising from the primal curse, from which, indeed, the age of 
Noah brought no deliverance. But it did bring the comfort of rest 
from the wickedness which had now reached its greatest height. 

The brief history of the world before the flood may fairly be filled 
up, to some extent, from our knowledge of human nature. The scrip- 
ture narrative shows us that the race of Cain invented the implements 
of industry and art ; and we can have no doubt that their inventions 
were adopted by the progeny of Seth. During the 1,656 years before 
the flood, and when the experience of individuals embraced nearly 
1,000 years, vast strides must have been made in knowledge and civ- 
ilization. Arts and sciences may have reached a ripeness, of which 
the record, from its scantiness, conveys no adequate conception. The 
destruction caused by the flood must have obliterated a thousand dis- 
coveries, and left men to recover again by slow and patient steps the 
ground they had lost. But the race of Seth also became infected with 
the vices of the Cainites. This seems to be the only reasonable sense 
of the intercourse between " the sons of God," (sons of the Elohim,) and 
" the daughters of men," {daughters of Adam.) AVe may put aside all 
fancies borrowed from heathen mythology respecting the union of 
superhuman beings with mortal women, and assume that both parties 
were of the human race. The family of Seth, who preserved their 
faith in God, and the family of Cain, who lived only for this world, 
had hitherto kept distinct; but now a mingling of the two races took 
place, which resulted in the thorough corruption of the former, who, 
falling awav, plunged into the deepest abyss of wickedness. We are 



5U 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



also told that this union produced a stock conspicuous for physical 
strength and courage ; and this is a well-known result of the inter- 
mixture of different races. 

On the whole, it seems that the antediluvian world had reached a 
desperate pitch of wickedness, the climax of which was attained by 
the fusion of the two races. The marked features of this wicked- 
ness were lust and brutal outrage. An interval of divine forbearance 
only brought this wickedness to its height. Jehovah said, " My 
Spirit shall not always strive with (or remain or rule in) man ; (the 
Adam) for that they are but flesh, and their days shall be an hundred 
and twenty years." In the somewhat obscure brevity of this speech, 
it is difficult to determine the force of each word ; but the general 
sense seems to be : " I will take away from man the life I at first gave 
him, since he has corrupted himself to mere flesh ; and I will limit 
his time on earth to one hundred and twenty years." That the period 
thus defined was a space for repentance seems clear from the context. 
The opinion that it marks out the future length of human life, does 
not at all agree with the duration of the lives of the post-diluvian 
patriarchs. 

So great, indeed, had the wickedness of man become, that we an 
told that "it repented Jehovah that he had made man on the earthy and 
it grieved him at his heart." He resolved to destroy the existing ract 
of living creatures, as if putting an end to an experiment which had 
failed. Measures of amelioration would not meet the case. It was 
necessary (to use an expressive phrase) " to make a clean sweep " of 
the existing race, if there were to be any hope of better things among 
another. For the destruction contemplated was neither total nor 
final. 

It pleased God to set aside from the general doom one family, for 
the purpose of re-peopling the earth, after the flood should have passed 
by, and the family chosen for this experiment was that of Noah. 
" Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord," and is described as u a 
just man and perfect (upright or sincere) in his generations," that is, 
among his contemporaries. Like Enoch, he "walked with God," 
and was earnest in his protests against the prevailing wickedness of 
the day. He was a "preacher of righteousness." He had three 
sons — Shem, Ham and Japheth, as they are named in order of prece- 
dence; but Japheth seems to have been the eldest, and Shem the 
voungest. Noah was five hundred years old when the eldest was 
born. The other two followed within the next two years. 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



About this time, perhaps at the beginning of the one hundred and 
twenty years of delay, God revealed his design to Noah, bidding him 
to prepare an " ark," to save his family from the coming flood, with 
the races of animals needful for them, and promising to establish a 
new covenant with them. Noah at once believed the word of God, 
and set about preparing the ark, following strictly the directions of 
the Almighty as to its size and shape. Meanwhile, he continued to 
preach, and warn the people of their impending doom ; but they paid 
no heed to him. They mocked him, and denounced his ark as the 
work of a lunatic ; but still he persevered, and urged them to come 
with him into his ark and be saved. They saw his work going up 
slowly and steadily, according to -^^^^^tSbssiii^^ 
the divine plan, but the nearer it 
approached completion, the more 
merciless became their scoffing. 
They went on, "eating and drink- 
ing, marrying and giving in mar- 
riage, until the day that Noah 
entered into the ark; and knew 
not until the flood came and took 
them all away." 

At the be^innin^ of the six 

o •— 

hundredth year of Noah's life, the 
ark was completed ; and on the 
tenth day of the second month of 
that year, he entered into it by 
God's command, with his wife, 
his three sons and their wives — eight persons in all. They took with 
them the food they would require, which was as yet of a vegetable 
nature. They took also two (a pair) of every animal ; but of clean 
animals (for the use of sacrifice had already established this distinction) 
they took seven; by which is generally understood, three pairs to 
continue the race, and one male for sacrifice. They took seven days 
to enter the ark, and then "Jehovah shut Noah in." 

On the same day, namely, the seventeenth day of the second month 
of the six-hundredth year of Noah's life, the flood began. "The 
fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of 
heaven were opened." The sacred narrative is vivid and forcible, 
though entirely wanting in that sort of description which, in a mod- 
ern historian or poet, would have occupied the largest space. We 




NOAH ENTERING THE ARK. 



576 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS, 



see nothing of the death-struggle ; we hear not the cry of despair ; 
we are not called upon to witness the frantic agony of husband and 
wife, of parent and child, as they fled in terror before the rising wa- 
ters. Nor is a word said of the sadness of the one righteous man, 
who, safe himself, looked upon the destruction which he could not 
avert. But one impression is left upon the mind, with peculiar vivid- 
ness, from the very simplicity of the narrative, and it is that of utter 
desolation. "All flesh died that moveth upon the earth, both of fowl, 
and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth 
upon the earth, and every man. * * * * They were destroyed 
from the earth, and Noah only remained alive, and they that were 
with him in the ark." 

For five months, or one hundred and fifty days, the lonely ark 
floated upon the vast expanse of waters. At the end of this time, 
" God remembered Noah " and those that were with him in the earth, 
and caused a strong wind to pass over the earth, which caused the 
rising waters to subside ; and from this time they began steadily to 
fall. On the seventeenth day of the seventh month of Noah's life, the 
ark was left aground on Mount Ararat. More than two months were 
still required to uncover the tops of the mountains, which appeared on 
the first day of the tenth month. Noah waited still forty days (to the 
eleventh day of the eleventh month). Before he opened the window 
of the ark, he sent out a raven, which flew to and fro, probably on the 
mountain tops, but did not return into the ark. After seven days 
more, (the eighteenth day) he sent forth a dove, which found no rest- 
ing place, and returned to the ark. In another seven days (the 
twenty-fifth day) she was sent forth again, and returned with an olive 
leaf in her bill, the sign that even the low trees were uncovered, and 
the type for ages after of peace and rest. After seven days more, (the 
second of the twelfth month) the dove was sent out again, and proved 
by not returning, that the waters had finally subsided. These periods 
of seven days clearly point to the division of time into weeks. 

Noah at length removed the covering of the ark, and beheld the 
newly uncovered earth on the first day of the 601st year of his age. 
On the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was dry, and 
Noah went out of the ark, by the command of God, with all the crea- 
tures. His first act was to build an altar, and offer a sacrifice of every 
clean beast and bird. This act of piety called forth the promise from 
God that he would not again curse the earth on account of man, nor 
destroy it as he had done ; but that he would forbear with man's in- 



578 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



nate tendency to evil, and continue the existing course of nature until 
the appointed end of the world. He repeated to Noah and his sons 
the blessing pronounced on Adam and Eve, that they should " be 
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and that the inferior 
creatures should be subject to them. To this he added the use of 
animals for food. But the eating of their blood was forbidden, be- 
cause the blood is the life ; and, lest the needful shedding of their 
blood should lead to deeds of blooa 1 , a new law was enacted against 
murder. The horror of the crime was clearly stated on the two 
grounds of the common brotherhood of man, which makes every mur- 
derer a fratricide, and of the creation of man in the image of God. 
The first murderer had been driven out as a fugitive and a vagabond ; 
but his life was sacred. Now, however, the penalty was changed, and 
the law laid down, " He that sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his 
blood be shed." This law amounts to giving the civil magistrates 
" the power of the sword and hence we may consider three new pre- 
cepts to have been given to Noah, in addition to the laws of the Sab- 
bath and of marriage, which were revealed to Adam, namely, the 
abstinence from blood, the prohibition of murder, and the recognition 
of the civil authority. 

In addition to these promises and precepts, God made with Noah 
a Covenant — that is, one of those agreements by which he has con- 
descended again and again to bind himself toward man ; not more 
sacred with him than a simple promise, but more satisfying to the 
weakness of our faith. Of these covenants, that made with Noah, on 
behalf of his descendants, is the first ; and it may be called the Cov- 
enant of God's forbearance, under which man lives to the end of 
time. It repeated the promise, that the world should not be again 
destroyed by a flood ; and it was ratified by the beautiful sign of the 
rainbow in the cloud, a natural phenomenon suited to the natural 
laws of whose permanence it was the token. It is important for us 
not to suffer our relations to Adam, as our first father, or to Abra- 
ham, as father of the faithful, to overshadow our part in God's cove- 
nant with Noah as the ancestor of the existing human race. 

Noah soon gave proof that his new race was still a fallen one, by 
yielding to a degrading vice. Intoxication was doubtless practised 
by the profligate race who " ate and drank " before the flood ; but it 
W( uld seem to have been a new thing with Noah. He began his 
new life as a husbandman ; and, living in a land (Armenia) which is 
still most favorable for the vine, he planted a vineyard, made himself 



57y 



580 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



drunk in his tent, and suffered the degrading consequences which al- 
ways, in some shape or other, attend the quenching of reason in wine, 
by a shameful exposure of himself in the presence of his sons. And 
now they began to show those differences of character which have 
severed even the families chosen by God in every age. Ham told his 
father's shame to Shem and Japheth, who hastened to conceal it even 
from their own eyes. On coming to himself, Noah vented his feel- 
ings in words which are unquestionably prophetic of the destinies of 
the three races that descended from his sons. For, in the primitive state 
of society, the government was strictly patriarchal. The patriarch — 
that is, the head oP the race for the time being — had, over his children 
and theirs, the full power of the later king; he was their priest; and 
thus we have seen Noah offering sacrifices; and, among those who 
preserved the true religion, he was a prophet also. With such au- 
thority, then, did Noah pronounce on his undutiful son the curse that, 
in the person of one of his own children, he should be a slave to his 
brother. 

" Cursed be Canaan (the youngest son of Ham). A slave of 
slaves shall he be to his brethren." While to Shem and Japheth he 
gave their respective blessings, already symbolized by their names. 
Shem (the name chosen above all others), and Japheth (enlargement)— 
to the former, that Jehovah should be his God in some special sense ; 
to the latter, that he should be " enlarged " with worldly power, and 
should ultimately share the blessings of the family of Shem : 

"Blessed be Jehovah, God of Shem, 

And let Canaan be their slave ! 
May God enlarge Japheth, 
And let him dwell in the tents of Shem, 

And let Canaan be their slave !" 

Thus, early in the world's history was a lesson taught, practically, 
which the law afterward expressly enunciated, that God visits the 
sins of the fathers upon the children. The subsequent history of 
Canaan shows, in the plainest manner possible, the fulfilment of the 
curse. When Israel took possession of his land, he became the ser- 
vant of Shem ; when Tyre fell before the arms of Alexander, and 
Carthage succumbed to her Roman conquerors, he became the slave 
of Japheth ; and we also hear the echo of Noah's curse in Hannibal's 
Agnosco fortunam Carthaginis, when the head of Hasdrubal, his 
brother, was thrown contemptuously into the Punic lines. 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS 



581 



The blessing on Shem was fulfilled in that history of the chosen 
race which forms the especial subject of the Old Testament. The 
blessing on Japheth, the ancestor of the great European nations, is il- 
lustrated by every age of their annals, and especially by religious his- 
tory. 

Noah lived for 350 years after the flood, and died at the age of 
950. He survived the fifth and eighth of his descendants, Peleg and 
Reu j he was for 128 years contemporary with Terah, the father of 
Abraham^ and died only two years before the birth of Abraham 
himself (a. m. 2006, B. c. 1998). Looking backward w r e find that he 
was born only 128 years after the death of Adam, and fourteen years 
after that of Seth. He was contemporary with Enos for 84 years, and 
with the remaining six antediluvian patriarchs (except Enoch) for cen- 
turies. Thus the reader will see how easy it was to hand down the 
events of sacred history from the days of Adam to Abraham, and 
even to Moses. 



ABRAHAM. 

God having promised that the seed of the woman should conquer 
the serpent, it now pleased him to select a particular family from which 
that seed should spring, and which should meanwhile preserve the 
worship of the true God. This step was rendered necessary because 
of the condition of the world, which, long before the death of Noah, 
had relapsed into idolatry and profaneness. The Almighty chose as 
the head of this family a man named Abram. He was the son of 
Terah, who was the nineteenth in descent from Adam, and was born 
two years after the death of Noah, or 1996 years Before Christ. Te- 
rah was the father of three sons — Haran, Nahor and Abram, this being 
the order of their ages. Haran died some time before his father, and 
his son Lot became his heir. The name Abram was prophetic of the 
destiny of the patriarch so highly favored by God, as it signifies Ex- 
alted Father. Abram married Sarai, the daughter of his brother Ha- 
ran, and at the time of God's call to him, was living with his family 
in the ancient city of " Ur of the Chaldees," 'which has been identified 
by the most ancient traditions with the city of Orfah, in the highlands 
of Mesopotamia (Aram), which unite the table land of Armenia to the 
Valley of the Euphrates (Padan Aram). In later ages it was called 



582 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



Edessa, and was celebrated as the capital of Abgarus or Acbarus, who 
was said to have received the letter and portrait of our Saviour. God 
appeared to Abram w T hile he otill dwelt in Ur, and told him to depart 
out of his country into a land which he would show him.* In obe- 
dience to this call, Abram, accompanied by all his kindred, left Ur, 
and moving southward, they took up their residence at Haran, more 
properly called in the New Testament Charran, east of the Euphrates, 
" the flood " which divided the old home of the family from the new 
land of promise. Here they remained for some years, and here Terah 
died at the age of two hundred and five years. Nahor, charmed with 
the fertility of the country, claimed the right of a first choice, and 
settled here. 

Abram was now seventy-five years old, and his wife, Sarai, was 
childless. God said unto Abram, " Get thee out of thy country, and 
from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee. And I 
will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy 
name great ; and thou shalt be a blessing ; and I will bless them that 
bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee ; and in thee shall all the 
families of the earth be blessed." Gen. xii. 1-3. 

In obedience to this divine call, Abram departed from Haran, 
taking with him Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all 
that belonged to them. He passed over the great River Euphrates 
into the land of Canaan, and received from the Canaanites the name of 
the Hebrew, or the man who crossed the river. Journeying through 
the Syrian Desert, he passed through Damascus, crossed the Jordan, 
and entered the Promised Land, passing into the Valley of Shechem, 
or Sichem, between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim. He was now in the 
land which God had promised him, having been led by faith along 
his journey. God appeared to him again, and promised, " Unto thy 
seed will I give this land." Abram was an old man, and as yet his 
wife was barren ; but he believed God's words, and was sure that his 
seed would possess the land, and his faith in the promises made to him 
was " counted to him for righteousness." 

Abram did not long live at Shechem, but removed to a mountain 
in the neighborhood of Bethel. The Canaanite was already in the 

* St. Stephen declared, " The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham 
when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and said unto him, Get 
thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, aud come into the land which I 
shall show thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in 
Charran ; and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this 
land, wherein ye now dwell." — Acts viL 3, 4 



584 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



land, and viewed with no friendly eve the presence of Abrarn and Lot 
with their immense herds in the fertile valley. The position of the 
patriarch on the mountain secured him from the Canaanites, who oc- 
cupied the plains below ; but it afforded only scanty pasture for his 
cattle. He, therefore, went on continually southward, till the pressure 
of famine drove him out of the promised land into Egypt. The 
mighty kingdom of the Pharaohs had already been long established 
in Lower Egypt. In this crisis the faith of Abram failed. To pro- 
tect his wife from the license of a despot, he stooped to that mean 
form of deceit, which is true in word, but false in fact. He caused 
Sarai to pass as his sister, a term used in Hebrew, as in many other 
languages, for a niece, which she really was. The trick defeated 
itself. Sarai's wonderful beauty was reported to the king, who at 
once caused her to be removed to his harem, believing her to be an 
unmarried woman, and heaped wealth and honors upon Abram. 
Warned of his mistake by plagues sent upon him and his household, 
the king restored Sarai to her husband, with a rebuke for his deceit, 
and sent him out of Egypt with all the wealth he had acquired, for 
he was now " very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold/' Abram 
travelled back through the south of Palestine to his old encamp- 
ment near Bethel, where he again established the worship of Je- 
hovah. 

He now began to feel the evils of prosperity. The land could not 
support his own cattle and Lot's. Their herdsmen quarreled, and Lot 
probably put forth his rights as the head of the family. Abraham's 
faith now came to his aid. Remembering that the promises had been 
made to him and his seed, he was content to give Lot any present ad- 
vantage, feeling sure that God would yet give him a better heritage. 
He proposed to Lot that they should separate their posessions, and 
told Lot to select his own land, and that he would take what was left. 
Their encampment looked westward on the rugged hills of Judea,and 
eastward o n the fertile plain of the Jordan about Sodom, " well 
watered everywhere, as the garden of the Lord, like the land of 
Egypt." Even from that distance, through the clear air of Palestine, 
can be distinctly discovered trie long and thick masses of vegetation 
which fringe the numerous streams that descend from the hills on 
either side to meet the central stream in its tropical depths. It was 
exactly the prospect to tempt a man who had no fixed purpose of his 
own, who had not, like Abram, obeyed a stern, inward call of duty. 
So Lot left his uncle on the barren hills of Bethel, and chose all the 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 585 



precinct of the Jordan, and journeyed east, and pitched his tent in the 
plain in which stood the five cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Ze- 
boiim, and Bela, (afterwards called Zoar). The wickedness of these 
cities was great beyond expression, and one feature of it was the prac- 
tise of the revolting crime to which Sodom has given its name, of 
which " it is a shame even to speak but which was practised 
openly. 

Abraham continued to dwell in the Holy Land, and the Lord, 
pleased with the evidence of his faith which he had given in the ar- 
rangement with Lot, said to him, " Lift up now thine eyes, and look 
from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and east- 
ward, and westward. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will 
I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the 
dust of the earth ; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, 
then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land 
in the length of it, and in the breadth of it ; for I will give it unto 
thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the 
plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the 
Lord." Gen. xiii. 14-18. 

Mamre became the usual dwelling place of Abram, and it was 
while he was living here that the five cities of the plain rebelled 
against Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam, and chief of a mighty empire 
in Western Asia, to whom they had been in subjection for twelve 
years. The king of Elam marched against the five cities, with three 
allied kings, and defeated their forces in a great battle in the vale of 
Siddim. The victors despoiled the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, 
and carried off Lot and all his goods. As soon as Abram was in- 
formed of the fate of his nephew, the colleced 318 men of his own 
household, and a force of his Amorite allies, and pursued the victors. 
He overtook them at the sources of the Jordan, and by a bold night 
attack, defeated them, rescued Lot, arid recovered all the spoil. On 
his return he was met by the new king of Gomorrah, who offered him 
half the spoil, which he refused to accept. In this episode, Abram, 
"the Hebrew," a foreign chief, appears as a powerful Emir, with a 
numerous retaining of followers, living on terms of equality with 
others like himself who were anxious to court the friendship of so 
formidable an ally, and combining with the peaceful habits of a pastoral 
life, the same capability for warfare which is characteristic of the Arab 
race. With great dignity he refuses to enrich himself with the fruits 
of his victory, and claims only a share of the booty for his Amorite 



586 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



allies, to whom, apparently, lie extends his protection in return for 
permission to reside in their territory. 

Among those who met him, on his return, was Melchizedek, the 
kino- of Salem, a a priest of the Most High God/' and to him Abrarn 
gave tithes of all the spoil. There is something surprising and mys- 
terious in the first appearance of Melchizedek, and in the subsequent 
references to him. Bearing a title which Jews, in after ages, would 
recognize as designating their own sovereign, bearing gifts which re- 
call to Christians the Last Supper, this Canaanite crosses, for a 
moment, the path of Abram, and is unhesitatingly recognized as a 
person of higher spiritual rank than the friend of God. Disappear- 
ing as suddenly as he came in, he is lost to the sacred writings for a 
thousand years; and then a few emphatic words, for another moment, 
bring him into sight as a type of the coming Lord of David. The 
extraordinary reverence paid to him by Abram, and apparently by 
the king of Sodom, completes all our positive knowledge respecting 
his person and office. 

After this Abram continued to dwell at Mamre, and seems to have 
been in constant fear that the powerful king of Elam would attack 
him, in revenge for the defeat lie had inflicted upon him. While he 
was in this state of mind, God appeared to him again, and bade him 
fear not, that he was his protector. He repeated his promise of an 
heir to the patriarch, and told him that this heir should not be his 
steward, whom he had adopted, but his own son, that should be born 
of his wife. And he took Abram forth, and bade him look on the 
stars that were gemming the eastern heavens in all their beauty, and 
told him that his seed should be as the stars in numbers. And 
Abram "believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteous- 
ness." God then reminded him that it was he who had brought him 
up out of Ur of the Chaldees, and that he should, indeed, inherit this 
land. Abram's faith seems to have staggered at this, and, in order 
to confirm his promise, God made a covenant with him. 

" In those days, Avhen men would make a most solemn covenant 
with each other, they proceeded thus: they took one of every kind of 
beast, or bird, used in sacrifice, being a heifer, a she-goat, a ram, a 
turtle dove, and a young pigeon. The beasts tlw divided, and laid 
the pieces opposite each other, at such a distance that a man could 
pass between them ; but the birds, being small and of the same kind, 
were not divided, but placed entire opposite each other. Then the 
party making the agreement, or covenant, passed between the pieces, 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



581 



declaring the terms by which he bound himself to abide. As this 
was the strongest and most solemn method A brain knew of contract- 
ing a binding obligation, God thought it proper to make use of it on 
this occasion." 

Abram was directed to make the necessary arrangements for such 
a ceremony ; and when he had made them, he remained by the car- 
casses until the evening, to protect them from damage by tlie 
fowls. 

"And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon 
Abram ; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. 

"And God said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall 
be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them ; and 
they shall afflict them four hundred years ; 

"And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and 
afterward they shall come out with great substance. 

"And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace ; thou shalt be buried 
in a good old age. 

" But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again ; for 
the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. 

"And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was 
dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed be- 
tween those pieces." Gen. xv. 12-17. Thus did God establish his 
covenant with the patriarch. 

At the suggestion of Sarai, who despaired of having children of 
her own, Abraham took as his concubine, Hagar, her Egyptian maid, 
who bore him a son. But before the child was born, Hagar 's insolence 
to her mistress provoked the jealousy of the latter, and she treated the 
concubine so badly that she fled into the wilderness. Here she en- 
countered an angel of God, who told her to return to her mistress, and 
encouraged her with the promise of a numerous issue. In memory 
of God's hearing her cry of distress, he bade her name the coming 
child Ishmael — that is, God shall hear— mid he foretold his character 
and destiny in words which to this day describe the Bedouin Arabs, 
who are descended from him : " He will be a wild man ; his hand 
will be against every man, and every man's hand against him ; and he 
shall dwell in the -face of all his brethren," that is, to the east of the 
kindred tribes sprung from Abraham. 

Abraham was 86 years old when Ishmael was born, and for thirteen 
years more he continued to dwell in Hebron. God now appeared to 
him again, and renewed his promises to him, telling him that he should 



588 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 




ABRAHAM AND THE SONS OF HETH. 

tiansmit the blessings promised him not through Ishmael, but through 
a son which Sarah should bear to him within a specified time. God 
also changed the patriarch's name to Abraham (father of a multitude) 
and his wife's name to Sarah (princess), in consequence of her exalted 
dignity as the mother of the promised seed. At the same time, the 
command was given to establish the rite of circumcision, with which 
Abraham complied in the person of himself, of Ishmael, and of every 
male in his household. 

Soon after this, the promise that Sarah should bear a son was re- 
peated. Three men stood before Abraham as he sat before his tent in 
the heat of the day. The patriarch, with true Eastern hospitality, 
welcomed the strangers and bade them rest and refresh themselves; 
the meal ended they foretold the birth of Isaac. Sarah overheard 
this prediction aud laughed incredulously at it. The principal stran- 
ger rebuked her sternly for her unbelief, reminding her that every- 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



589 



thing was possible with God. The guests then went on their way to 
Sodom. Abraham accompanied them a part of the way, and was 
told by God of his purpose to destroy the wicked cities of the plain. 
Full of sorrow, the patriarch besought the Almighty to spare these 
cities if as many as fifty righteous men could be found in them, and 
encouraged by a favorable answer, continued to plead until God prom- 
ised to spare the cities if as many as ten righteous men could be 
found in them. Thus do we see the effect of fervent and constant 
prayer on the part of the righteous. God is always more ready to 
hear than we to pray, and more ready to grant than we to ask. 

Meanwhile, the two angels went on their way to Sodom, whose peo- 
ple gave them a reception which filled up the measure of their sins. 
Even the sons-in-law of Lot despised their warning; and Lot himself 
was reluctantly dragged, with his wife and two daughters, from the de- 
voted city. Lot pleaded hard that one of the cities might be spared 
as a place of abode for him, and God granted his prayer and gave him 
Bela, which was afterward called Zoar. God's command was that the 
fugitives should not look back behind them, but Lot's wife disobeyed 
the injunction, and looking back was turned into a pillar of salt. No 
sooner had Lot entered Zoar than God rained fire and brimstone upon 
Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, and utterly destroyed them 
and their inhabitants, and the fertile plain in which they had stood be- 
came a scene of the most perfect desolation. Lot himself, though 
saved from Sodom, fell, like Noah after the deluge, into vile intoxica- 
tion, of which his own daughters took advantage to indulge the in- 
cestuous passion, from which sprang the races of Moab and Amnion. 

After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham journeyed 
southward, and dwelt in Gerah, among the Philistines. Sarah's 
beauty won the admiration of Abimelech, the king of the country, and 
here again Abraham declared jhe was his sister. The king took her 
to his harem, but was warned of God in a dream to restore her to 
her husband. This he did, reproving Abraham for his deceit. 

At length Isaac was born. This was the child so long promised, 
the seed through whom the promise was to descend to posterity. His 
birth was welcomed with the greatest rejoicings. At a banquet which 
Abraham made to celebrate the weaning of Isaac, Sarah's jealousy was 
aroused by the mockery of Ishmael, and she demanded that, with his 
mother Hagar, he should be driven out. Abraham reluctantly con- 
sented, and sent them away from his home, consoled by the promise 
of God, that he would make Ishmael a great nation. 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



591 



A long period of time passed away, Abraham still remaining in the 
land of the Philistines, and being treated by them as a powerful 
prince, whose friendship was worth conciliating. At length God put 
him to the severest trial of his faith ever demanded of him. He told 
him to take Isaac, his only son, in whom he had told him all nations 
should be blessed, and offer him for a burnt sacrifice at an appointed 
place. Such a bidding, in direct opposition to the promptings of na- 
ture, and the divine mandate against the shedding of human blood, 
Abraham hesitated not to obey. His faith, which had always sus- 
tained him, supported him in this final trial. He went forth, deter- 
mined to slay Isaac, as he had been commanded, " accounting that 
God was able to raise up his son, even from the dead, from whence 
also he received him in a figure." The most complete trial was made 
in this case. God's purpose was announced to. the patriarch in the 
first place, after which he was required to make a three day's journey 
in the constant and tender companionship of the child he loved with 
his whole heart. Painful as was the ordeal, he never shrank from it, 
and when God had fully tested him, he commanded him to release 
Isaac unharmed, and renewed the promise of blessings to him and his 
seed. Then Abraham and the lad returned to Beersheba, where he 
dwelt for a long time. 

From Beersheba, Abraham went back to his old home at Hebron, 
and there Sarah, his wife, died, at the age of 127 years. Up to this 
time, God had "given him none inheritance in the land ; no, not so 
much as to set his foot on." He had used it to pitch his tent, and 
feed his flocks on, but not a foot of it was actually his property. But 
now the sanctity of the sepulchre demanded that his burying-place 
should be his own : and he makes a bargain with Ephron, the Hittite, 
in the presence of all the people of the city, in the course of which lie 
behaves, and is treated by them, like a mighty and generous prince. 
Courteously refusing both the use of their sepulchres and the offer of 
a place for his own as a gift, he buys for its full value, four hundred 
shekels' weight of silver, " current money with the merchant," the 
Cave of Machpelah, (Double Cave) close to the oak of Mature, with 
the field in which it stood. Here he buried Sarah, and the place ul- 
timately became the sepulchre of his immediate descendants. 

He now returned to Beersheba, and his next care was to send his 
servant to choose a wife for his son Isaac, amongst his own kindred. 
His oldest servant undertook the journey, and pledged himself to his 
master not to select a wife for the heir amongst any of the daughters 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS 



593 



of Canaan. The servant then set out, and guided by God, went to 
Haran, in Mesopotamia, where Nahor, the brother of Abraham, had 
settled, and a sign from God indicated the maiden he sought in Re- 
bekah, the daughter of Bethuel, son of Xahor. He concluded the 
negotiations with the parents of the damsel, and returned with her to 
his master's house, where she became the wife of Isaac. 

After the marriage of Isaac, Abraham formed a new union with 
Keturah, by whom he became the father of the Keturaite Arabs. Ive- 
turah seems to have been only a concubine, and her sons were sent 
away eastward, enriched with presents, as Ishmael had been during 
Abraham's life, lest the inheritance of Isaac should be disputed. To 
him Abraham gave all his great wealth, and died apparently at 
Beersheba, "in a good old age, an old man, and full of years," his 
age being 175 years. His sons Isaac and Ishmael met at his funeral, 
and buried him in the cave of Machpelah. Ishmael survived him 
just 50 years, and died at the age of 137. 



ISAAC. 

When Abraham and his wife were old, and \vdl stricken in years, 
and when the latter had passed the age at which child-bearing is 
natural to woman, it pleased God to fulfil the promise he had so long 
held out to the pat arch ; and he caused his wife to conceive and 
bear a son, whose name was called Isaac. Sarah nourished the child 
at her own breast for fully three years, and, when the time of 
its weaning came, Abraham made a grand feast to celebrate the 
occasion. 

It seems that before Isaac, the son of her old age, was given to 
her, Sarah had lavished considerable affection upon Ishmael, through 
whom she expected the promise of God to descend ; but when her 
own child was born, she naturally bestowed her whole heart upon 
him, and gradually came to dislike Ishmael, who was by no means 
pleased with the neglect with which he was treated. Abraham seems 
to have been steadfast in his attachment to Ishmael, and to have been 
willing to retain him about him as his son. 

On the occasion of the banquet referred to, Ishmael roused the 
wrath of Sarah, by his derision of the infant heir, and Sarah at once 
38 



594 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



demanded of her husband that the bondwoman and her son should 
be cast out, declaring that " the son of this bondwoman shall not be 
heir with my son, even with Isaac." Abraham was sorely grieved 
by this demand, but God said to him that the wish of his wife was 
proper, and bade him fear not, because of Ishmael ; for, while the 
blessings shall descend to Isaac, he will also make Ishmael a great 
nation, " because he is thy seed." 

We are struck with the fact, that the obedience of Abraham to the 
will of God was always rendered promptly ; and now we find him 
rising early in the morning to send Hagar and Ishmael away. He 
gave them a " bottle of water," and such provisions as travellers in 
the desert usually carried ; and they departed, and wandered in the 
desert of Beersheba, where Ishmael was miraculously saved from 
death by thirst, and preserved until he grew to manhood. 

When Isaac had reached the age of twenty-five years, Abraham 
was commanded to take Isaac, his only son, to a place which should be 
pointed out to him, and there offer him for a burnt sacrifice. "And 
Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took 
two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the 
wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of 
which God had told him. Then, on the third day, Abraham lifted 
up his eyes, and' saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his 
young men, Abide ye here with the ass ; and I and the lad will go 
yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham took 
the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he 
took fire in his hand, and a knife ; and they Avent both of them 
together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham, his father, and said : My 
father; and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the 
fire and the wood ; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And 
Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt 
offering ; so they went both of them together. And they came to the 
place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, 
and laid the wood in order; and bound Isaac his son, and laid him 
on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his 
hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord 
called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham. And 
he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, 
neither do thou anything unto him ; for now I know that thou fearest 
God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me. 
And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, behind 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



595 



him, a ram caught in the thicket by his horns ; and Abraham went 
and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead 
of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah- 
jireh : as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be 
seen." Gen. xxii. 1-14. For this faithful act, God renewed his 
promises to Abraham of the blessings which should descend upon his 
seed through Isaac. 

After his mother's death, Isaac went with his father to purchase the 
Cave of Machpelah for a sepulchre, and was present upon that occa- 
sion. After the burial of Sarah, he returned with Abraham to Beer- 
sheba. The grief which he manifested for his mother, to whom he 
was tenderly attached, now caused Abraham to determine to choose a 
Avife for his son. Isaac was forty years old, and was of a meditative, 
quiet disposition, and his father rightly judged that the constant and 
tender companionship of a wife would be the best solace for his grief. 
He had heard that the family of his brother Nahor were still in Mes- 
opotamia, and were doing well, and he determined to take for Isaac a 
wife from amongst his own kindred, as this would be the most certain 
way of ensuring the purity of the race of which he was to be the 
father. He called his old steward, Eliezer of Damascus, and bade 
him set forth upon the journey to the house of his kindred, and there 
select a fitting bride for his son. He also made the servant swear a 
solemn oath, that he would under no circumstances bring back a Ca- 
naanitish woman. 

Eliezer departed with a train suited to the importance of his mis- 
sion, and took with him presents for the damsel and her friends. 
Then, as now, it was the custom in the East, for the bridegroom to 
purchase his bride from her parents at a considerable price, and to 
make handsome presents to her. 

Nahor's family had relinquished their nomadic character to such an 
extent as to have become dwellers in the town of Haran or Charran. 
Their flocks, however, were still sent out to graze, under the care of 
shepherds and of the younger members of the family. Then, as now, 
it was a custom for the women of the family to draw water from the 
wells, and the highest as well as the lowest, engaged in this duty. 

Eliezer, after a long journey, reached the well of Haran about the 
time of the evening that the damsels came to draw water. He knew 
that he should behold his young master's future bride among the 
throng, and he prayed that God would bless him in his choice. Feel- 
ing very deeply the responsibility of the matter, he prayed the Al- 



596 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 




ELTEZER AND REBEKAII AT THE WELL. 



mighty to give Jiim a sign by which he should know whom to select — 
namely, that she who, to his request to give him and his camels to 
drink of the water, should say, "Drink ; and I will give thy camels 
drink also/' should be the maid he should choose. 

While he was yet speaking, the women came forth from the city, 
and began their accustomed task. Eliezer singled out the fairest, and 
asked leave to drink from her pitcher. She granted the request, and 
when he had drank, proceeded to give his camels water also. He 
was greatly encouraged by this, but was not yet sure that she was the 
maid he sought. Giving her several handsome presents of jewelry, 
he asked her, " Whose daughter art thou ? tell me, I pray thee ; 
is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in ? " She re- 
plied that she was the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, and to 
m his astonishment, Eliezer found that she was the very person of 
whom his master had heard, and whom he desired for his son's wife. 
In his joy he lifted up his voice, and blessed God for having gra- 
ciously guided him aright to the house of the brother of his master, 
Abraham. 

Upon hearing this, Rebekah the damsel, at once ran to her father's 
house, and informed her family of what had transpired. Bethuel w T as 
doubtless too infirm for active life now r , and the management of his 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 5<)7 

affairs seems to have fallen into the hands of his son Laban, who at 
once went out and welcomed Eliezer and his companions, and brought 
them to the house where he entertained them with true Eastern hos- 
pitality. Eliezer stated his mission briefly, and demanded the hand 
of Rebekah for his young master. Her relatives agreed to the match 
and received the customary presents, and Rebekah professing her 
willingness to go, Eliezer departed with the damsel the next morning. 

Isaac had gone out at eventide to meditate in the fields, under the 
quiet heavens, when he saw the camels of Eliezer returning home. 
He at once went forth to meet them, and Rebekah, who was accom- 
panied by her nurse and several female attendants, asked Eliezer who 
the stranger was. Upon being told that it was his " master," she 
alighted from her camel, and enveloped herself in the veil of a bride, 
by which Isaac might know her from her companions. Having 
learned from the steward all the events of his mission, Isaac took Re- 
bekah to his mother's tent, which was now to belong to her, as the 
chief woman of the tribe, and he loved her, and she became his wife ; 
" and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death." 

For twenty years Rebekah was barren. " Of all the patriarchs," 
says Bishop Hall, "none made so little noise in the world as Isaac; 
none lived either so privately or innocently ; neither know I whether 
he approved himself a better son or a husband ; for the one he gave 
himself over to the knife of his father, and mourned three years for 
his mother ; for the other, he sought not to any handmaid's bed, but 
in a chaste forbearance reserved himself for twenty years' space and 
prayed. Rebekah was so long barren." At length God granted his 
prayers, and Rebekah conceived, and brought forth twins, whose des- 
tinies were predicted before their birth. They struggled violently, as 
if for the mastery of one over the other, in her womb, and she en- 
treated God to show her what this meant. She was told that two 
nations, two manners of people, were in her womb; and that of these, 
the one people should be stronger than the other, and that the elder 
should serve the younger. When they were born, the elder had a 
very hairy appearance, and received the name of Esau, (the hairy) 
from that circumstance. The younger had hold of his brother's 
heel in the birth, and received the name of Jacob, (the sup- 
planter). # 

After this a sore famine caused Isaac to remove to Gerar, in the coun- 
try of the Philistines. He seems to have meditated going down into 
Egypt ; but God commanded him not to do so, assuring him that he 
would care for and protect him. 



598 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



He continued to reside in the land, and lived to see his children's 
children, and died at the age of one hundred and eighty years. He 
was buried with his parents in the Cave of Machpelah, where also his 
wife was buried. 



JACOB. 

As we have stated in our sketch of Isaac, Esau and Jacob were not 
born until their parents had been married more than twenty years. 
They were fifteen years old when their grandfather Abraham died. 
As they grew up to manhood, they developed characters entirely dis- 
similar. Esau became a famous hunter, and excelled in manly and 
athletic sports, while Jacob devoted himself to the quieter and more 
domestic pursuits of a purely pastoral life, thus becoming eminently 
qualified to be the ancestor of a race which should one day be one of 
the most cultivated and polished in the world. Esau became his 
father's favorite, but the mother lavished her love upon the gentle 
Jacob, remembering, doubtless, the prediction which God had made to 
her concerning him before his birth. This prediction she repeated to 
Jacob, who was thenceforth constantly on the watch to obtain from 
Esau the formal transfer of the higher natural claims which he might 
be supposed to derive from the accident of a few minutes' earlier birth. 
The opportunity for which he watched, soon came. 

One day, while Jacob was preparing a savory mess of lentiles, after 
a new method which had but lately been introduced into that country 
from Egypt, Esau came in from a protracted hunting expedition, al- 
most famished with hunger. The uncivilized, or semi-civilized man, 
is a child in his appetites at all times ; and the hunger of such a man 
is madness. Jacob was shrewd enough to know this, and when Esau 
eagerly demanded a portion of the savory dish with which to stay his 
hunger, Jacob refused to give it until his brother agreed to relinquish 
his birthright to him, and thus played with his hunger until Esau 
agreed to the compact, and sealed it with an oath. Then Jacob fed 
him, and he departed, " Thus Esau despised his birthright." When 
Esau was forty years old, he took to himself two wives from 
amongst the daughters of Canaan, " which were a grief of mind unto 
Isaac and to Rebekah." 

A greater family trial was now in store for Isaac. The approach 




599 



600 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



of his hundredth year, and the infirmity of his sight, warned him to 
perform the solemn act by which, as prophet as well as father, he 
was to hand down the blessing of Abraham to another generation. 
Of course, he designed for Esau the blessing which, once given, was 
the authoritative and irrevocable act of the patriarchal power ; and 
he desired him to prepare a feast of venison for the occasion. Esau 
was not likely to confess the sale of his birthright, nor could Jacob 
venture openly to claim the benefit of his trick. Whether Rebekah 
knew of that transaction, or whether moved by partiality only, she 
came to the aid of her favorite son, and devised the stratagem by 
which Jacob obtained his father's blessing. 

She directed Jacob to kill and bring to her two kids of the goats, 
out of which she prepared a savory dish, such as Isaac loved. In 
order to deceive the patriarch, whose vision was too feeble to enable 
him to detect the cheat, Jacob put on a dress of Esau, and covered 
the exposed portion of his neck, and his hands, with the skins of the 
kids, for his brother was a hairy man. Thus prepared, he took the 
dish in to his father, and demanded his blessing, assuring him that lit 
was Esau. Isaac detected the voice of Jacob, but was re-assured by 
the hairy skins which the impostor had donned. So Isaac ate of his 
son's venison, and drank the wine which he gave him, after which 
he called Jacob to him, and blessed him. Again his doubts were 
lulled to rest by the smell of his son's raiment, and he said, " See, 
the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath 
blessed. Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the 
fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine : Let people serve 
thee, and nations bow down to thee : be lord over thy brethren, and 
let thy mother's sons bow down to thee : cursed be every one that 
curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee." 

Having received the blessing, Jacob went out from his father's* 
presence; but he had scarcely gone when Esau came in from his 
hunting, and, having prepared his mess of venison, took it in to his 
father. Surprised at his coming, and his entreaty to eat, Isaac de- 
manded his name, and was told that he was his son, Esau. "And 
Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that 
hath taken venison, and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all 
before thou earnest, and have blessed him ? yea, and he shall be 
blessed." The whole imposture was now clear to Esau, who wept 
like a child for the loss of his blessing, and he cried out in anguish to 
his horror-stricken parent, " Bless me, even me also, O my father." 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



601 



Like Ishmael, he received a temporal blessing, the fatness of the 
earth and the dew of heaven, the warrior's sword, qualified by sub- 
jection to his brother, whose yoke, however, he was at some time to 
break. The prophecy was fulfilled in the prosperity of the Iduma?ans, 
their martial prowess, and their constant conflicts with the Israelites, 
by whom they were subdued under David, over whom they tri- 
umphed at the Babylonian captivity, and to whom they at, last gave 
a king in the person of Herod the Great, But all this was no com- 
pensation for the loss of the higher and spiritual blessing, which fell 
to the lot of Jacob, and which involved, in addition to all temporal 
prosperity, a dominion so universal that it could only be fulfilled by 
the kingdom of the Messiah. 

Esau, full of bitterness, resolved to kill his brother, immediately 
after his father's death, which he believed to be near at hand. His 
resolution being reported to Rebekah, she urged Jacob to fly to her 
relatives at Haran, and obtained Isaac's consent to the arrangement, 
on the pretext that it would not do for Jacob to marry one of the 
daughters of Canaan, as Esau had done. The patriarch repeated the 
blessing of Abraham to his son, and sent him away. 

And so the heir of the promises retraced, as a solitary wanderer, 
with nothing but the staff he carried, the path by which Abraham 
had traversed Canaan. Proceeding northward, he lighted on a place, 
the site, doubtless, of Abraham's encampment, near Bethel, where he 
found some stones, which probably belonged to the altar set up by 
Abraham, one of which he made his pillow. Thus forlorn, amid the 
memorials of the covenant, he was visited by God in a dream, which 
showed him a flight of stairs leading up from earth to the gates of 
heaven, and trodden by angels, some descending on their errands as 
" ministering spirits " upon earth, and others ascending to carry their 
reports to Him, whose "face they ever watch" in dutiful service. 
This symbol of God's providence was crowned by a vision of Jeho- 
vah, and his voice added to the renewal of the covenant a special 
promise of protection. Jacob awoke to acknowledge the awful pres- 
ence of Jehovah, of which he had lain down unconscious, and to 
dedicate to Him himself and all God should give him. As a memo- 
rial of his vow, he set up his pillow for a monument, consecrating it 
with oil, and called the place Beth-El — the House of God. The 
date of this, the turning point in Jacob's religious life, is fixed by 
subsequent computations to his seventy-seventh year. 

Jacob succeeded *,i reaching his relatives at Padan-Aram, and upon 




602 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 603 




HEBRON. 



his arrival there was met by his cousin Rachel, the daughter of La ban, 
the brother of Rebekah. Jacob loved her, and agreed to serve Laban 
as a shepherd for his seven years for the hand of Rachel. The bar- 
gain was made, and the service rendered. Laban's flocks prospered 
wonderfully under Jacob's management; but when Jacob claimed his 
reward at the end of the seven years, he found himself met with deceit. 
Laban had two daughters. Leah, the elder, was afflicted with some 
weakness or dullness of the eyes; but Rachel, the younger, was a 
beauty. Feeling sure that Leah's defect would render it difficult to 
find a husband for her, Laban resolved to put her off on Jacob by a 
trick, rendered easy by the forms of an Eastern wedding, where the 
bride is closely veiled. Jacob discovered the trick after it was too 
late, and upon reproaching Laban for it, was met with the excuse, 
that it was not the custom of the country to marry the younger sister 
before the elder ; but he gave Jacob Rachel also, on the condition of 
another seven years' service. During these seven years Jacob had 
eleven sons and one daughter. Six sons and the daughter were the 
children of Leah, and one son (Joseph) was the son of Rachel, and 
four were born of the two handmaids of the two wives. The readei 
will find their names, and the incidents of their birth, recorded in the 
29th and 30th chapters of Genesis. 

After the birth of Joseph, Jacob wished to become his own master ; 
but Laban prevailed on him to serve him still, for a part of the pro- 



604 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



duce of his flocks, to be distinguished by certain marks. Jacob's arti- 
fice to make the most of his bargain may be regarded as another ex- 
ample of the defective morality of those times ; but, as far as Laban 
was concerned, it was a fair retribution for his attempt to secure a 
contrary result. Jacob was now commanded in a vision, by " the God 
of Bethel," to return to the land of his birth ; and he fled secretly from 
Laban, who had not concealed his envy, to go back to his father Isaac, 
after twenty years spent in Laban's service — fourteen for his wives, 
and six for his cattle. Jacob, having passed the Euphrates, struck 
across the desert by the great fountain of Palmyra ; then traversed the 
eastern part of the plain of Damascus, and the plateau of Bashan, and 
entered Gilead, which is the range of mountains east of the Jordan, 
forming the frontier between Palestine and the Assyrian Desert. 

Rachel had carried away the household gods of her father, and La- 
ban pursued his son-in-law, with a troop of his friends, to recover 
them. Rachel adroitly concealed the stolen property, and Laban, 
failing to find his images, concluded a covenant with Jacob, in which 
they mutually adjusted the territory over which they should range, 
and agreed not to molest one another. Jacob now continued his 
journey, and received a Divine encouragement to meet the new dan- 
gers of the land he was entering. His eyes were opened to see a 
troop of angels, " the host of God," sent for his protection, and form- 
ing a second camp beside his own • and he called the name of the place 
Mahanaim, (the two camps or hosts). 

His first danger was from the revenge of Esau, who had now be- 
come powerful in Mount Seir, the land of Edom. In reply to his 
conciliatory message, Esau came out to meet him with four hundred 
armed men. Jacob was greatly distressed by the news of his brother's 
approach, not knowing whether he came in friendship or anger. 
Jacob had now reached the Valley of the Jabbok,and he divided his 
people and herds into two bands, that if the first were smitten, the 
second might escape. Then he turned to God in prayer. To prayer 
he adds prudence, and sends forward present after present, that their 
reiteration might win his brother's heart. This done, he rested for 
the night ; but, rising up before the day, he sent forward his wives 
and children across the ford of the Jabbok, remaining for a while in 
solitude, to prepare his mind for the trial of the day. It was then 
that "a man" appeared, and wrestled with him till the morning rose. 
This " man " was the "Angel Jehovah," and the conflict was a repeti- 
tion in act of the prayer Avhich we have already seen Jacob offering 



6 06 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS 



in words. Though taught his own weakness by the dislocation of his 
thigh at the angel's touch, he gained the victory over him by his im- 
portunity — " I will not let thee go except thou bless me " — and he 
received the new name of Israel, (a prince of God) as a sign that 
"he had prevailed with God, and should, therefore, prevail with 
man." Well knowing with whom he had to do, he called the place 
Peniel, (the face of God) " for I have seen God face to face, and my 
life is preserved." The memory of his lameness, which he seems to 
have carried with him to the grave, was preserved by the custom of 
the Israelites not to eat of the sinew in the hollow of the thigh. 

At sunrise Jacob descended into the valley of the Jabbok, and saw 
Esau and his warriors approaching. He divided his last and most 
precious band, placing first the handmaids and their children, then 
Leah and her children, and Rachel and Joseph last. Advancing be- 
fore them all, he made his obeisance to Esau, who a ran to meet him, 
and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept." After a cordial 
interview, Jacob prudently declined his brother's offer to march with 
him as a guard ; and Esau returned to Mount Seir, and we hear no 
more of him except the genealogy of his descendants, the Edomites. 

Jacob pursued his journey westward and halted at Succoth, so 
called from his having there put up " booths " (Succoth) for his cattle, 
as well as a house for himself. He then crossed the Jordan, and ar- 
rived at Shechem, which had grown since the time of Abraham into 
a powerful city, and was named after Shechem, the son of Haman, 
prince of the Amorites. From them, he bought a piece of land, the 
first possession of the family in Canaan, on which he pitched his tent, 
and built an altar to God, as the giver of his new name, and the God 
of the race who were ever to bear it.— " God, the God of Israel." 
Here he dug the well by which the Saviour of the world taught the 
woman of Samaria a better worship than that of sacred places. 

He was soon involved in a conflict with the Shechemites, through 
their violence to Dinah, his daughter, and the treacherous revenge of 
Simeon and Levi, which afterward brought on them their father's 
curse ; the city of Shechem was taken, but Jacob thought it prudent 
to avoid the revenge of the Canaanites by retiring from the neighbor- 
hood. It seems probable that he afterward returned, and rescued 
"from the Amorites with his sword and bow" the piece of land he 
had before purchased, and which he left, as a special inheritance, to 
Joseph. 

Meanwhile Jacob returned, by the command of God, to Bethel, 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



607 




EGYPTIAN WAR CHARIOTS. 

and performed the vows which he had there made when he fled from 
home, and received from God a renewal of the covenant. There Ra- 
chel's nurse, Deborah died, and was buried beneath the " oak of 
weeping." As he journeyed southward, and was near Ephrath or 
Ephratah, the ancient name of Bethlehem, Rachel died in giving 
birth to Jacob's youngest son. The dying mother called him Ben-oni 
(Son of my sorrow) ; but the fond father changed his name to Ben- 
jamin (Son of the right hand). 

The grave of Rachel was long marked by the pillar which Jacob 
erected over it, and her memory was associated with the town of 
Bethlehem. Jacob's next resting place, near the tower of Edar, was 
marked by the incest of Reuben, which forfeited his birthright. At 
length he reached the encampment of his father Isaac, at the old sta- 
tion of Mamre, beside Hebron. Here Isaac died at the age of 180, 
"old and full of days, and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him." 

Jacob was now an old man ; but his age was afflicted with the loss 
of his son, Joseph, as we shall see in the next chapter. Joseph was 
carried away thirteen years before the death of Isaac. After many 
years Jacob learned providentially that Joseph was not onl} alive, but 
a great man in Egypt, and accepting the invitation of his son. went 



608 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 




RACHEL'S TOMB. 



down into Egypt, and died there at the age of 147. Plis body was 
carried into Canaan by Joseph, with great pomp, and buried in the 
Cave of Machpelah. 



JOSEPH. 

Although Rachel was the most tenderly loved wife of Jacob, she 
was for many years childless, while her sister Leah became the mother 
of several children. At length, however, it pleased God to give her a 
son, and his name was called Joseph. For many years she bore no 
more children, and at length died in giving birth to Benjamin. 
Joseph was the best loved of all Jacob's children, and received proofs 
innumerable of his father's affection. This rendered him odious to 
his brethren, and appears to have made him so far forget himself as 
to become an informer upon them to their father. This filled up the 
measure of their dislike, which was by no means diminished by Joseph 
receiving from his father a "coat of many colors," as a token of his 
great love. To increase their hatred, Joseph dreamed two dreams, 
which even his father, who seems to have discerned their prophetic 
character, censured his imprudence in repeating. In the first dream, 
his brothers' sheaves of corn bowed down to his, which stood upright 



61G OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



in their midst ; a most fit type, not only of their submission to him, 
but of their suing to him for corn in Egypt. The second dream was 
of a wider and higher import. It included his father and his mother, 
as well as his brethren, (now defined as eleven) in the reverence done 
to him ; and the emblems chosen leave little doubt that the dream pre- 
figured the homage of all nature to Him, whose sign was the star of 
Bethlehem, and of whom Joseph was one of the clearest types. Jo- 
seph's brethren resolved to avert the humiliation by his death, re 
enacting the part of Cain and Abel. 

Jacob was now living at Hebron with Isaac, ana his sons fed the 
flocks wherever they could find pasture. Sometimes Joseph accom- 
panied his brethren, and sometimes he acted as a messenger between 
them and Jacob. Upon one occasion, his brethren being at Dothan, 
he was sent to them with a message from Jacob. They discerned his 
approach afar off, and determined to kill him. Reuben, however, 
persuaded them to avoid the actual shedding of their brother's blood, 
by casting him into an empty pit close at hand, from which he meant 
to rescue the lad, and restore him to his father. They seized the 
" dreamer " on his approach, and cast him into the pit, and during 
Reuben's absence, sold him to some Midianite merchants who passed 
by the place on their way to Egypt. Then they took his coat, and 
dipped it in the blood of a goat, and by showing it to Jacob, induced 
their sorrow-stricken father to believe that a wild beast had devoured 
Joseph. 

Meanwhile, the lad was carried by the Midianite merchants into 
Egypt, and there sold to Potiphar, " an officer of Pharaoh, and Cap- 
tain of the Guard." Potiphar's wife, tempted by Joseph's youthful 
beauty, proposed to him to become her paramour in a shameful in- 
trigue. Rejecting her advances, he was falsely accused by her to his 
master, by whom lit was thrown into prison. His service in Potiphar's 
house, and his prison life, make up a period of thirteen years, though 
it is uncertain how much time was embraced in either. He found 
favor with the " keeper of the prison," who seems to have been Poti- 
phar's successor, and was given the general management of the prison 
and its inmates. 

Among the prisoners were two of the king's great officers, the chief 
of the cup-bearers, and the chief of the cooks. They were committed 
to Joseph's care, and having dreamed each a dream which impressed 
them very greatly, they asked Joseph to interpret their visions for 
them. This he did ; and, as he predicted, the one was hanged, and 
the other restored to his office within three days. 




JOSEPH SOLD BY HIS BEETHEEN. 



611 



612 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



The liberated officer had been requested, by Joseph, to* endeavor to 
procure his liberty for him, and had premised to do so, but utterly 
forgot him for a space of two years. Then Pharaoh having been 
visited by two singular dreams, which none of his wise men could 
interpret, the chief of the cup-bearers remembered the Hebrew cap- 
tive, who had so truthfully interpreted his own dream, and proposed 
to the king to send for him. 

Upon hearing this, Pharaoh had the captive at once summoned 
into his presence, and, upon relating his dream, received the inter- 
pretation of it from Joseph, who informed him that he spake to him 
by the power of God, and not of his own learning. The dream had 
been two-fold, to mark its certain and speedy fulfilment. Seven 
years of an abundance, extraordinary even for fruitful Egypt, were to 
be followed by seven other years of the most terrible famine. In the 
first dream, the seven years of plenty were denoted by seven heifers, 
the sacred symbols of Isis, the goddess of production, which came up 
out of the river. These were beautiful and fat, and fed on the luxu- 
riant marsh grass by the river's brink; but there came up after them 
seven lean and ugly cattle, which devoured the fat kine, but remained 
as lean as before. These typified the seven bad years. The second 
dream was still plainer : there sprang up a stalk of Egyptian wheat 
with seven full ears, denoting the seven years of plenty; then there 
sprang up another stalk, bearing seven thin and blasted ears, which 
destroyed the good ears, thus typifying the seven years of famine. 
Joseph went farther, and counselled Pharaoh to give some discreet per- 
son authority over all the land, that he might store up the surplus 
corn of the seven years of plenty against the seven years of famine. 
Pharaoh saw that none could be so fit for this office as Joseph him- 
self, " in whom was the Spirit of God." He made him his Vicegerent 
over Egypt, and gave him his own signet, the indisputable mark of 
royal power. He received the Coptic name of Zaphnath-Paaneah 
{a revealer of secrets) ; and married Asenath, the daughter of Poti- 
pherah, priest or prince of On (Heliopolis), who bore him two sons. 
As a token of the oblivion of his former life, he named his elder 
son Manasseh (forgetting) ; and he called the other, Ephraim (double 
fruitf ulness), in grateful commemoration of his blessings. When 
Joseph afterwards became his father's heir, the double share of the 
inheritance, which fell to him, was indicated by each of his sons 
ranking with the sons of Jacob as the head of a distinct tribe. 

Joseph spent the seven years of plenty in gathering up provisions 



JOSEPH'S BRETHREN DIPPING HIS COAT IN BLOOD. 



614 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



against the famine. These he acquired by doubling the ordinary im- 
port of one- tenth, and " he took up the fifth part of the land of 
Egypt in the seven plenteous years." The corn was stored in cities 
conveniently located, and wisely and firmly guarded by the royal 
officers. Then the famine set in, and " waxed sore in Egypt," and 
not only the Egyptians, but the neighboring countries, Canaan, and 
probably parts of Syria, Arabia, and Africa, sent in to Pharaoh to 
buy corn, " because the famine was so sore in all lands." 

At the end of two years all the money of the Egyptians and 
Canaanites had been paid into Pharaoh's treasury. Then, at Joseph's 
suggestion, the king sold them corn for their cattle, first, and then for 
their lands. The people were removed from the country to the 
cities. They were permitted, however, to cultivate their lands, as 
tenants under the crown, paying a rent of one-fifth of the produce, 
and this became the permanent law of the tenure of land in Egypt ; 
but the land of the priests was left in their own possession. 

The pressure of the famine in Canaan forced Jacob to send his 
sons down to Egypt to buy corn ; but he kept back Benjamin, " lest 
mischief should befall him." Joseph knew his brethren at once, but 
they failed to recognize him, and did humble reverence to him in his 
capacity of Vicegerent, thus fulfilling one of his dreams. He spoke 
to them harshly, and charged them with being spies come down 
to see the nakedness of the land. They protested their innocence, 
and related their history to him, thus giving him the news of his 
father and brother, which he most longed to hear. Probably to pun- 
ish them for their cruel treatment of himself, he put them all in 
prison, and kept them there three days. Then his anger cooled, and 
he dismissed them all but Simeon, whom he kept as a hostage for the 
appearance of Benjamin, whom they promised to bring down to him. 
This they did, Jacob reluctantly giving his consent to the journey of 
Benjamin into Egypt. Joseph had them all taken to his own house, 
where they dined with him. He was much affected by the sight of 
Benjamin, his own mother's son, and could scarcely refrain from 
making himself known to them. Yet, wishing to satisfy himself that 
they were true brothers to Benjamin, he caused his own cup to be put 
in the lad's sack, and, when they had gotten fairly started, sent his 
guard in pursuit of them. The pursuers found the cup in Benjamin's 
sack, and conducted him back to the city. His brethren voluntarily 
accompanied him to share his doom. Joseph, when they were brought 
before him, told them that all might return home but the one in 




6ia 



616 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



whose sack the cup had been found. Judah, who had been the first 
to propose that Joseph should be sold as a slave, now ventured to ad- 
dress the Vicegerent in a speech of touching eloquence, urging him 
to send the lad back to his father, and take him (Judah) as a slave in 
his place. 

His noble appeal broke down the self-control of the great prince, 
and in a broken voice he declared to them that he was their long lost 
brother, and to quiet their fears, said, " Be not grieved or angry with 
yourselves that ye sold me hither. It was not you that sent me hither, 
but God." Then followed that tender reconciliation which is so beau- 
tifully described in the sacred narrative. 

When the king heard that the strangers were Joseph's brethren, he 
was delighted, and sent them a cordial invitation to bring their father 
and their families, and all their possessions, and come and dwell in 
the land of Egypt. He also provided them with wagons and pro- 
visions. 

The removal of the chosen family to Egypt, was an essential part 
of the great plan which God had traced out to their father, Abraham. 

Jacob was greatly astonished by the message of Joseph and Pha- 
raoh, but was encouraged by God, who appeared to him in a vision, 
and told him to go down into Egypt, promising to bring him up 
again in the person of his descendants. Thus encouraged, he set out 
at once with all his house, including himself and excluding Joseph 
and his two sons, seventy-seven in all. He was warmly welcomed by 
Joseph, who presented his father and his brethren to Pharaoh. The 
king gave them the land of Goshen or Rameses, the best pasture 
ground in Egypt, for a dwelling-place, and assigned them the care 
of his own flocks, and Joseph fed them during the remaining five 
years of the famine. 

Jacob died seventeen years after his removal to Egypt, and his body 
was carried by Joseph to Canaan, with great pomp, and buried in the 
tomb of his fathers. 

On their return to Egypt, Joseph's brethren, fearing the effect of 
their father's removal, sought his forgiveness and made submission to 
him. He generously assured them that he harbored no ill against 
them, " and comforted them and spoke kindly unto them." 

Joseph survived his father for fifty-four years, still enjoying as we 
may assume, his honors at the court under the same dynasty, though 
possibly under a succession of kings. He saw Ephraim's children of 
the third generation, and had Manasseh's grand-children on his knees. 
At length he died at the age of 110. He was embalmed and placed 




617 



618 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



in a sarcophagus, but not buried. For before his death he had pre- 
dicted to his brethren their return from Egypt to the promised land ; 
and had bound them by an oath to carry his remains with them. 

Through all their afflictions, the children of Israel kept the sacred 
deposit of Joseph's bones, and when God led the people out of Egypt, 
Moses did not forget the trust. When they were settled in Canaan, 
they buried Joseph at Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob 
bought from the Amorites, and which he gave as a special inheritance 
to Joseph. 

MOSES. 

" I\OW there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Jo- 
seph." So begins the story of the affliction of the Israelites in Egypt, 
and of that marvellous deliverance, which has given to the second 
book in the Bible its Greek title of Exodus. The date of this event 
may be placed about or after the beginning of the sixteenth century, 
B. C, according to the common chronology; and it probably signifies 
a change of dynasty. But whether that change consisted in the ex- 
pulsion of the Shepherds, and the rise of the great Eighteenth Dy- 
nasty of native kings is unfortunately most uncertain. At all events, 
we see the new monarch dreading some war, in which the enemy might 
be aided by the people of Israel, who were " more numerous and 
mightier than his own subjects/' and dreading also their escape out 
of the land. He, therefore, adopted the policy of reducing them to 
slavery ; which was made more rigorous the more the people increased. 
Their labor consisted in field work, and esjjecially in making bricks 
and building the " treasure cities," (probably for storing corn) Pithom 
and Raamses. Still they multiplied and grew ; and Pharaoh adopted 
a more cruel and atrocious course. He commanded the Hebrew mid- 
wives to kill the male children at their birth ; but to preserve the 
females. The midwives, however, " feared God," and disobeyed the 
king ; and they were rewarded by the distinction given to their 
families in Israel. Their names wereShiphrah and Puab. The king 
then commanded the Egyptians to drown the new-born sons of the 
Israelites in the river, but to save the daughters. 

Pharaoh's edict of infanticide led, by the providence of God, to the 
rearing up at his own court of the future deliverer of Israel. Amram, the 
son of Kohath, son of Levi, had espoused Jochebed, who was also of th* 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 619 




PORT OF ACRE. 

tribe of Levi, and they already had two children, a daughter called 
Miriam, (the same name as the Mary of the New Testament) and a son 
named Aaron. Another son was born soon after the king's edict, and 
the beauty of the new-born babe induced the mother to make extra- 
ordinary efforts for its preservation from the general destruction of the 
male children of Israel. For three months the child was concealed in the 
house. Then his mother placed him in a small boat or basket of 
papyrus, closed against the water by bitumen. This was placed in 
the bulrushes, by the side of one of the canals of the Nile. Then the 
mother departed, as if unable to bear «the sight; but the sister remained 
to watch her brother's fate. Soon after the daughter of the king came 
down to bathe in the sacred stream, and seeing the basket in the flags, 
sent one of her attendants to bring it to her. Upon opening the 
basket, she at once recognized the infant as a Hebrew child ; but " its 
cry touched her heart, and she determined to rear it as her own. 
Overjoyed at this the babe's sister ventured to recommend to the 
princess a Hebrew nurse, and upon the acceptance of her offer, brought 
the child's own mother, to whom the princess confided it. The child 
was brought up as the son of Pharaoh's daughter, and the memory of 
the incident was cherished in the name given to the foundling of the 
water-side, whether according to its Hebrew or Egyptian form. Its 
Hebrew form is 3I6sheh, from Mashah, " to draw out " — " because I 
have drawn him out of the water." 




620 



MOSES IN HIS LITTLE LIFE-BOAT, 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



621 



From this time, for many years, Moses must be considered as an 
Egyptian. In the Pentateuch this period is a blank ; but in the New 
Testament he is represented as " educated in all the wisdom of the 
Egyptians/' and as " mighty in words and deeds." But the time at 
last arrived, when he was resolved to reclaim his nationality. He 
was now forty years old, and the sufferings of his countrymen began 
to move him as they had never done before. Seeing an Israelite suf- 
fering the bastinado from an Egyptian, and thinking they were 
alone, he slew the Egyptian, and buried the corpse in the sand. The 
fire of patriotism, which thus turns him into a deliverer from the op- 
pressors, turns him into the peace-maker of the oppressed. The ma- 
lignity of his countrymen brought the story of the death of the 
Egyptian to the ears of Pharaoh, and the life of Moses was threat- 
ened ; not for the first time, if we may believe the tradition. He fled 
into Midian. Beyond the fact that it was in or near the Peninsula 
of Sinai, its precise situation is unknown. There was a famous well 
sorrounded by tanks for the watering of the flocks of the Bedouin 
herdsmen. By this well the fugitive seated himself, and watched the 
gathering of the sheep. There were the Arabian shepherds, and theve 
were also seven maidens, whom the shepherds rudely drove away 
from the water. Moses, indignant at such an outrage, came to the 
assistance of the maidens, and drove off the shepherds " and watered 
their flock." They returned unusually soon to their father, and told 
him of their adventure, and, in gratitude for the service thus ren- 
dered, the man invited Moses to his house. The matter ended in 
Moses' marrying Zipporah, the daughter of his host, who was Jethro, 
the priest or prince of Midian. He also became his shepherd and 
slave, and for forty years we must regard him as an Arabian. 

The chief effect of this stay in Arabia is on Moses himself. It was 
in the seclusion and simplicity of his shepherd life that he received 
his call as a prophet. The king from whose anger he had fled had 
died, but the oppression of the Israelites under his successor was even 
more severe. " They cried, and their cry came up to God by reason 
of their bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remem- 
bered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And 
God looked upon the children of Israel, and God knew them." 

The scene chosen for the revelation to Moses of his divine mission 
was the same amid which the Israelites, led out by him from Egypt, 
were to see God's presence again revealed, and to receive the law 
from his own voice. Unchanged in its awful solitary grandeur from 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS 



623 



that day to this, it is one of the most remarkable spots on the surfaee 
of the earth. The Peninsula of Sinai is the promontory enclosed be- 
tween the two arms of the Red Sea, and culminating at its southern 
part in the terrific mass of granite rocks known as Sinai. This 
desert bordered on the country of Jethro. 

While Moses kept his flocks on this mountain he beheld one of the 
well known acacia trees (or thorn tree of the desert) burning and 
crackling with a fierce fire, " and the bush was not consumed." As 
he came near, to discover the cause of this strange sight, he was 
saluted by an awful voice, which informed him that he stood in the 
presence of God, and commanded him to put off his shoes, for the 
place was holy ground. Moses did as he was commanded, and " hid 
his face," for he could not bear to look upon the awful sight. The 
Almighty then informed him that he had heard the cry of the Israel- 
ites, and was come down to deliver them, and to lead them into the 
promised land; and called Moses to be his messenger to Pharaoh, and 
the leader of his people. Moses pleaded his un worthiness, but was * 
assured of God's presence till his mission should be fulfilled by bring- 
ing God's people to worship in that mountain. Then another diffi- 
culty arose. So corrupted were the people by the idolatry of Egypt, 
that they would not know what deity was meant by " the God of 
their fathers." They would ask, " What is his name ?" Besides the 
common name expressive of their divinity, the gods of the heathen 
had proper names, Amun, Baal, and the like ; and that He might be 
distinguished from all these, God revealed to Moses the name by 
which the God of the Hebrews has ever since been known, Jehovah, 
the self-existent and eternally the same ; — He that is, and was, and 
eter will be what he is — " I Am That I Am ! — What that is, I have 
written on the consciousness of man ; I have revealed it by word and 
act to your fathers ; and I ever will be to my people what I was to 
them ;" for He repeats this character once more, and adds, " This is 
my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations." 

God then unfolded his plan of deliverance. He bade Moses repeat 
to the elders of Israel the revelation he had now received. He as- 
sured him that they would believe, and bade him go with them and 
demand of Pharaoh, in the name of God, leave to go three days' 
journey into the wilderness, to sacrifice to Jehovah. He warned him 
of Pharaoh's refusal, and announced the signs and wonders he would 
work to make him yield, and ended by commanding the people to 
spoil the Egyptians of their jewels. 



624 WILD ASSES OF SYRIA. 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



625 



- To these assurances. God added two signs, to relieve the doubts of 
Moses about his reception by the people. Each of them had its sig- 
nificance. The hand made leprous and again cured, indicated the 
power by which he should deliver the people whom the Egyptians 
regarded as lepers. The shepherd's staff, first transformed into a ser- 
pent, the Egyptian symbol for the Evil Spirit (Typhon), and then 
restored to its former shape, became the " rod of Moses " and " of 
God," the sceptre of his rule as the shepherd of his people, and the 
instrument of the miracles which helped and guided them, and which 
confounded and destroyed their enemies. To these signs, which were 
exhibited on the spot, w T as added a third, the power to turn the water 
of the Nile to blood. 

But the more his mission is made clear to him, the more is Moses 
staggered by its greatness. He pleads his want of eloquence, which 
seems to have amounted to an impediment in his speech, a sorry 
qualification for an ambassador to a hostile king. Notwithstanding 
the promise, that He who made man's mouth, and has command of 
all the senses, would be with him, and teach him what he should say, 
he desires to devolve the whole mission on some other. Then did 
God, in anger, punish his reluctance, though in mercy he met his 
objections, by giving a share of the honor, which might have been his 
alone, to his brother Aaron, a man who could speak well. But yet 
the word was not to be Aaron's own. He was to be the mouth of 
Moses ; and Moses was to be to him as God, the direct channel of the 
divine revelation. The God of power became "Aaron's rod," though 
the power itself was put forth by the word of Moses. The two great 
functions conferred by the divine mission were divided: Moses became 
the prophet, aud Aaron the priest; and the whole arrangement ex- 
hibits the great principle of mediation. 

Moses obtained his father-in-law's permission to return to his 
brethren in Egypt ; and he received the signal of God for his depart- 
ure, in the assurance that "the men were dead that sought his life." 
He set out, accompanied by his wife, and at an inn at which he 
tarried for the night was met by God, and compelled to circumcise 
his son, which rite had hitherto been neglected. He then sent his 
wife and son back to his father-in-law, where they remained until 
Moses rejoined them at Rephidim. 

The mission of Moses to Pharaoh was summed up in the state- 
ments : — that God claimed the liberty of Israel as his first-born son ; 
and if Pharaoh refused to let him go, He' would slay his first-born. 
40 



626 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



627 



To this last infliction, all the plagues of Egypt were but preludes. 
After parting with his family, Moses continued his journey, and was 
met by Aaron, as God had foretold to him, and together they went 
down into Egypt, and assembled the elders of the Israelites. u And 
Aaron spake all the words which Jehovah had spoken to Moses, and 
did the signs in the sight of all the people. And the people believed ; 
and when they heard that Jehovah had visited the children of Israel, 
and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their 
heads and worshipped." 

Moses and Aaron next sought the presence of Pharaoh, and in the 
name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, demanded leave for His people 
to hold a feast in the wilderness. Pharaoh not only refused to let the 
people go, but also ignored Jehovah as a God, and increased the bur- 
dens of the Israelites. Then began that great series of plagues by 
which the Israelites and Egyptians received such incontestable proofs 
of the power of God. First the water of the Nile was turned to 
blood ; then the land was cursed with frogs, then with lice, which 
swarmed on both man and beast ; then the air was filled with such 
dense swarms of flies, or beetles, that they "devoured the land." 
This caused Pharaoh to consent to the proposed journey of the Israel- 
ites ; but as soon as the plague was removed, he refused to let them 
go. Then God smote all the beasts of Egypt with a disease. These 
cattle were not only property, but Egyptian deities ; but they died 
with the plague. The king, however, still refused to let the people 
go. Then the Egyptians were smitten in their own persons with the 
plague of boils and blains, a terrible species of black leprosy ; but 
still Pharaoh's heart was hardened. Then the land was visited with 
a terrific storm of hail, mingled with fire, wdiich destroyed all the 
growing crops, and every man and beast exposed to it. Pharaoh en- 
treated Moses to intercede and procure the cessation of the plague, 
but, when this was done, still refused to let the people go. Then 
God covered the land with locusts, which ate up all the fire and hail 
had spared, and caused the Egyptians such sore trouble that the king 
again consented to let the people go ; but, when the plague was re- 
moved, he again withdrew his consent. Then God sent a thick dark- 
ness over the land, which lasted three days. This darkness was 
frightful, and induced the king once more to consent to let the people 
go, if they would leave their flocks and herds behind. This conces- 
sion made, he forbade Moses and Aaron from coming to him again. 

The land of Goshen, in which the Israelites dwelt, had been ex- 




628 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 629 



empted from all these plagues ; and now that the last, and most fear- 
ful of all was at hand, God commanded his people to institute a 
ceremony called the Passover, which should always be to them a 
memorial of their great deliverance from the terrible judgments with 
which he visited Egypt. 

The day, reckoned from sunset to sunset, in the night of which the 
first born of Egypt were slain, and the Israelites departed, was the 
fourteenth of the Jewish month Nisan, or Abib (March to April), 
which began about the time of the vernal equinox, and which was 
now made the first month of the ecclesiastical year. This was the 
great day of the feast, when the paschal supper was eaten. But the 
preparations had already been made by the command of God. On 
the tenth day of the month each household had chosen a yearling 
lamb (or kid, for either might be used), without blemish. This 
"Paschal Lamb" was set apart till the evening which began the 
fourteenth day, and was killed as a sacrifice at that moment in every 
family of Israel. But before it was eaten, its blood was sprinkled, 
with a bunch of hyssop, on the lintel and door posts of the house ; 
the divinely appointed sign, that Jehovah might jmss over that house, 
when He passed through the land to destroy the Egyptians. Thus 
guarded, and forbidden to go out of doors till the morning, the 
families of Israel ate the lamb, roasted and not boiled, with un- 
leavened bread and bitter herbs. The bones were not suffered to be 
broken, but they must be consumed by fire in the morning, with any 
of the flesh that was left uneaten. The people were to eat in haste, 
and equipped for their coining journey. For seven days after the 
feast, from the fourteenth to the twenty-first, they were to eat only 
unleavened bread, and to have no leaven in their houses, under pen- 
alty of death. The fourteenth and twenty-first were to be kept with 
a holy convocation and Sabbatic rest. The Passover was to be kept 
to Jehovah throughout their generations, "a feast by an ordinance 
forever." Xo stranger might share the feast, unless he were first cir- 
cumcised ; but strangers were bound to observe the days of unleavened 
bread. To mark more solemnly the perpetual nature and vast im- 
portance of the feast, fathers were specially enjoined to instruct their 
children in its meaning through all future time. 

As the Passover was killed at sunset, we may suppose that the Is- 
raelites had finished the paschal supper, and were awaiting in awful 
suspense, the next great event, when the midnight cry of anguish 
arose through all the land of Egypt. At that moment, Jehovah slew 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



631 



the first born in every house, from the king to the captive ; and, by 
smiting also all the first born of cattle, he " executed judgment on all 
the gods of Egypt." 

The hardened heart of Pharaoh was broken by the stroke ; and all 
his people joined with him to hurry the Israelites away. The Egyp- 
tians willingly gave them the jewels of silver and gold and the rai- 
ment, which they asked for by the command of Moses; and so "they 
spoiled the Egyptians." They had not even time to prepare food, 
but took the dough before it was leavened, in their kneading-troughs, 
bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders, and baked unleavened 
cakes at their first halt. But amid all this haste, some military order 
of march was observed, and Moses forgot not to carry away the bones 
of Joseph. The host numbered 600,000 men on foot, besides children, 
from which the total of souls is estimated at not less than 2,500,000. 
But they were accompanied by a " mixed multitude," or great rabble, 
composed probably of Egyptians of the lowest caste, who proved a 
source of disorder. Their march was guided by Jehovah himself, who, 
from its commencement to their entrance into Canaan, displayed his 
banner, the Shekinah, in their van. " Jehovah went before them by 
day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way ; and by night in a 
pillar of fire, to give them light ; to go by day and night." 

This Exodus, or departure of the Israelites from Egypt, closed the 
430 years of their pilgrimage, which began from the call of Abram 
out of Ur of the Chaldees. They set out from Rameses, in the land 
of Goshen, and marched directly to the head of the Red Sea, which 
they reached at the close of the third day. Here they were overtaken 
by the army of Pharaoh, which the king in his madness had led out 
against them. They were unprepared for battle, and were greatly 
alarmed by the appearance of the Egyptians ; but God made them a 
passage through the waters of the Red Sea, and brought them in 
safety to the opposite shore. The Egyptians, attempting to pursue 
them, were drowned in the sea. The arms of the pursuers were 
washed ashore, and furnished Israel with the implements of warfare. 

For a short distance, the march lay along the Red Sea, after which 
the host entered the Wilderness of Sin. Here the people murmured 
because their provisions were exhausted, and God sent them manna, 
wmich was rained down from heaven, and continued this supply until 
they reached the promised land. Soon after the appearance of the 
manna, they were treacherously attacked by the Amalekites, whom 
they defeated in a great battle. Then they pressed on towards Sinai 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



633 



and encamped at the foot of the mountain on the first day of the third 
month after their leaving Egypt. 

Here they remained eleven months and twenty days, and during this 
time the Law was given to Moses, with such wonderful and magnifi- 
cent displays of the power and glory of God, that the people were sore 
afraid. But in spite of this, they made a golden calf and worshipped 
it as a god, and thus called down upon themselves the anger of the 
Lord. They were severely punished, and the Law was a second time 
given to Moses, as he had broken the first tables in his just anger at 
the idolatry of the people. 

It is the distinguishing attribute of genius that it is equal to emer- 
gencies ; the greater and more unexpected the emergency, the brighter 
shines the genius that copes with it and gains the mastery. Moses 
was not an ordinary man. He had been schooled at the Court of 
Egypt, and in the wide pastures where he tended the flocks of Jethro. 
He had learned to be self-reliant; he was born to be a leader; diffi- 
culties only aroused his heroic spirit ; strong material was put into 
him, and although meek he was firm and majestic, a man whose face 
could be made to shine, and whose hands were strong enough to carry 
tables of stone. 

For forty years Moses led the Israelites through the wilderness, 
commanding their armies in battle, directing their movements in the 
long march which was imposed upon them for their sin in refusing to 
enter the land when first led to it, and pleading with Jehovah for them 
when their sins called down upon them the terrors of the divine wrath. 
The people tried him sorely, but he never failed in his duty, but, as 
far as man could do so, kept them true to the worship of Jehovah, 
and was to them a prophet, a law-giver, a great leader, a judge, a 
general, and a most loving father. We have not space to present here 
even an outline of the great events of his life, but must refer the 
reader to the sacred narrative for them. 

After thirty-eight years of wandering in the Arabian desert, the 
chosen people again approached the borders of Palestine, this time to 
enter in and possess the promised land. Moses therefore knew that 
the day'of his death could not be distant, for he had been warned that 
it was not his privilege to lead the people who had so long engaged 
his care to their inheritance, but only to behold it afar off. Indeed, 
his years had already been protracted to the utmost span to which 
man's life then reached ; but although not less than 120 years old, his 
eye was not yet dim nor his natural strength abated. " His last care/' 



636 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



says Professor Jahn, " was to write for the people an earnest exhorta^ 
tion to obedience, in which he alluded to the instances of the kindness, 
severity, and providence of God, which the Hebrews had already ex- 
perienced ; he exhibited in a strong light the sanctions of the law ; he 
repeated the most important statutes, and added a few new ones to the 
code. These exhortations (which compose his fifth book, or Deuter- 
onomy) he delivered to the magistrates as his farewell address, at a 
time when their minds were well prepared to receive wholesome in- 
struction by the accomplishment of the divine promises which had 
already commenced. The genealogists, each in his own circle, com- 
municated all to the people, including the women and the children. 

" That the latest generations might have a visible and permanent 
memorial of their duty, he directed that, after they had taken posses- 
sion of Canaan, the law (or at least its fundamental principles, and 
the first development of its sanctions, as exhibited in Exodus, xx. — 
xxiv.) should be engraved on pillars of stone, plastered with lime, 
and that these pillars should be erected with appropriate solemnity at 
Shechem on Mount Ebal, or, more probably, Mount Gerizim. On 
this occasion the priests were to utter particular imprecations against 
all the secret transgressors of the law, to which the people were to as- 
sent by responding ' Amen ! ' at the end of each imprecation. 

" Moses then developed a second time, and still more minutely than 
before, the conditions on which Jehovah, their God and King, would 
govern them. He cast a prophetic glance into the most distant futu- 
rity, while he declared the different destinies which awaited them to 
the latest generations, according to their conduct in regard to the law. 
In full view of these conditions, and in order to impress them the 
more deeply on their minds, he caused the whole people, even the 
women and children, again to take a solemn oath of obedience ; and 
that, not only for themselves, but also for their posterity. " 

This done, he commissioned Joshua to lead Israel into the land of 
promise, after which he uttered his prophetic blessing of the tribes, 
and went up the mountain-side to render himself into the hands of his 
Maker. "And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the 
Mountain of Nebo, the summit of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. 
And Jehovah showed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan, and all 
Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land 
of Judah, even to the uttermost sea, and the south, and the plain of 
the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. So Moses, the 
servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, according to the 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 63T 





MOUNT NEBO. 



word of the Lord. And he buried him in a valley in the land of 
Moab, over against Beth-peor, but no man knoweth of his sepulchre 
unto this day." 

The children of Israel mourned for Moses in the plains of Moab 
thirty days ; and they rendered obedience unto Joshua, the son of 
Nun, on whom Moses had laid his hands, and who was full of the 
spirit of Avisdom. 

Centuries afterwards we behold the great lawgiver, standing in 
glory on the Mount of the Transforation, with Elias, the great vindi- 
cator of the law which had been given through him, and conversing 
with the great Messiah of the great act which was at once to fulfil the 
whole law, and to inaugurate the new and better era of grace. No 
greater honor could have been paid him than to be permitted thus to 
bear witness of the Messiah of whom " he wrote." 



JOSHUA. 



The successor of Moses was a man worthy of the great honor to 
which. Jehovah called him. He was the son of Nun, of the tribe of 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



639 



Ephraim, and grew up a slave in the brick-fields of Egypt. Born 
about the time when Moses fled into Midian, he was a man of nearly 
forty years when he saw the ten plagues, and shared in the hurried 
triumph of the Exodus. He is mentioned first in connection with the 
fight against Amalek, at Rephidim, when he was chosen by Moses 
to lead the Israelites. When Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive 
for the first time the two Tables, Joshua, who is called his minister or 
servant, accompanied him part of the way, and was the first to accost 
him in his descent. Soon afterwards he was one of the twelve chiefs 
who were sent to explore the land of Canaan, and one of the two whc 
gave an encouraging report of their journey. The 40 years of wan- 
dering were almost passed, and Joshua was one of the few survivors, 
when Moses, shortly before his death, was directed to invest Joshua 
solemnly and publicly with definite authority in connection with 
Eleazar the priest, over the people. And after this was done, God 
himself gave Joshua a charge by the mouth of the dying Lawgiver. 
Under the direction of God, again renewed, Joshua, now in his 85th 
year, assumed the command of the people at Shittim, sent spies into 
Jericho, crossed the Jordan, fortified a camp atGilgal, circumcised the 
people, kept the passover, and was visited by the Captain of the 
Lord's Host. A miracle made the fall of Jericho more terrible to the 
Canaanites. In the first attack upon Ai the Israelites were repulsed : 
it fell at the second assault, and the invaders marched to the relief of 
Gibeon. In the great battle of Beth-horon the Amorites were sig- 
nally routed, and the south country was open to the Israelites. Joshua 
returned to the camp at Gilgal, master of half of Palestine. In the 
north, at the waters of Merom, he defeated the Canaanites under Jabin 
king of Hazor ; and pursued his success to the gates of Zidon, and 
into the Valley of Lebanon under Hermon. In six years, six tribes 
with thirty-one petty chiefs were conquered ; amongst others the 
Anakin — the old terror of Israel — are especially recorded as destroyed 
everywhere except in Philistia. Joshua, now stricken in years, pro- 
ceeded, in conjunction with Eleazar and the heads of the tribes, to 
complete the division of the conquered land ; and when all was al- 
lotted, Timnath-serah in Mount Ephraim was assigned by the people 
as Joshua's peculiar inheritance. The Tabernacle of the congregation 
was established at Shiloh, six cities of refuge were appointed, forty- 
eight cities assigned to the Levites, and the warriors of the trans- 
Jordanic tribes dismissed in peace to their homes. After an interval 
of rest, Joshua convoked an assembly from all Israel. He delivered 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



641 



two solemn addresses, reminding them of the marvellous fulfilment of 
God's promises to their fathers, and warning them of the conditions on 
which their prosperity depended ; and lastly, he caused them to renew 
their covenant with God, at Shechem, a place already famous in con- 
nection with Jacob and Joseph. He died at the age of 110 years, 
and was buried in his own city, Timnath-serah. 

RUTH. 

A man named Elimelech, an Ephrathite of Bethlehem-Judah, had 
been driven by a famine into the country of Moab, with his wife 
Naomi, and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. The sons married 
women of Moab, named Orpah and Ruth ; and the family resided in 
that country for ten years. The father died and both his sons ; and 
Naomi rose up to return to her own land. She gave her daughters- 
in-law leave to go back to their families ; but both declared they 
would return with her. On her urging the point for their own sakes, 
Orpah bade her an affectionate farewell, and went back " to her people 
and her gods;" but Ruth cast her lot wholly with Naomi, saying to 
her, " Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after 
thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I 
will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: 
where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried ; the Lord do 
so to me, and more also, if aught but death do part me and thee." 
And when Naomi "saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with 
her, then she left speaking unto her," and they set out on their jour- 
ney back to the land of Israel. 

They reached Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest, 

and Ruth sought subsistence as a gleaner. What followed turns en- 

tirely upon the provisions of the Mosaic law for the " Levirate " 

marriage of a widow and the redemption of her husband's inheritance 

by the "Goel," or nearest kinsman. A wealthy and powerful man 

of Bethlehem, named Boaz, whose grandfather, Nashon, was prince 

of the tribe of Judah, was a very near kinsman (though not the 

nearest) to Naomi's deceased husband, Elimelech, and consequently 

to Ruth, as the widow of his son. It chanced that Ruth went to 

glean in this man's field ; and the mind, distressed with the fatal story 

of other inhabitants of the same city, finds exquisite relief in the 

picture of Boaz visiting the gleaners., not like a grudging farmer, but 

in the spirit of kindness prescribed by Moses : blessed them and 

blessed by them in the name of Jehovah. 
41 



OLD* TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



648 



It is pleasant to find one who had been so unfortunate as Ruth 
coming into a happier estate. She was a true woman, and in warmth 
of love and devotedness to her newly-found mother, she shines forth 
as one of the most attractive characters in the Old Testament. It is 
not pleasant to be suddenly plunged into misfortune as she was, but 
it may be profitable. Hers was a hard lot, but hers was a fortunate 
ending, as was that of Job after he was rent and bruised by unparal- 
leled afflictions. 

One very marked trait, that of courage, and another, that of indus- 
try, both exhibited finely in Ruth, account largely for her good for- 
tune. She was not ashamed to work. Her soft hands deemed it no 
dishonor to grow hard and tough. She believed a sun-browned face, 
gained in the field of honest industry, was no detraction from a 
woman's beauty. One of the most pithy writers of Scotland, an 
essayist who combines singular good sense with a singularly pungent 
way of stating it, has eulogized the individual who can "come down," 
but who "cannot give up." The Phoenix rises from its ashes, bright 
in plumage and strong of wing, and soars toward the sky. If one 
must "come down " he need not " give up," but can rise triumphant 
from the dust. It is this hope, this courage, this acceptance of the 
situation and making the best of it, that gives such a charm to this 
woman whose simple story is read by all the world. 

There was a willingness to do what she had the ability to do. If 
she could not seize a sickle and clip and cut as a man would, gather- 
ing heavy sheaves, she could at least stoop down and pick up the 
scattered stalks, and could glean where she could not do more. It 
was well, too, for her to be employed, and have her mind occupied. 
The tendency of human nature is to nurse its sorrows, to pet its griefs, 
and this is the most ineffectual method to cure the trouble. Better 
forget it by finding something else to think about. Ruth had less 
time and disposition to complain and mourn than she would have had 
if poverty had not pushed her into the harvest-field. 

And it is not difficult to trace here a plain providence of God. 
The fair maid of Moab was to take her place in an illustrious lineage ; 
she was to carry in her veins the blood of a miraculous humanity ; 
she was to be an ancestress of the Nazarene ; so, too, was Boaz, and 
therefore she is found in his field. His generous heart became the 
home of the daughter of Moab. 

Ruth attracted his attention ; and when he learned who she was, he 
bade her glean only in his field, and enjoined the reapers to show her 




644 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



645 



kindness. In reply to her thanks, he praised her devotion to her 
mother-in-law, and her coming to place her trust under the wings of 
Jehovah, God of Israel. Thus passed the whole harvest, Ruth fol- 
lowing the reapers, who were instructed by Boaz to throw handfuls 
of corn in her way, and sharing their daily meal. Meanwhile Naomi, 
full of gratitude to God, who had thus guided her to her husband's 
nearest kinsman, instructed Ruth to claim her rights under the Levi- 
rate law. There was, as we have said, a still nearer kinsman ; but we 
may safely assert, that Naomi knew enough of him to be aware that 
the appeal to him would be fruitless. Hence she sent her daughter- 
in-law to Boaz. Ruth followed Naomi's instructions. Boaz blessed 
her in the name of Jehovah ; praised her virtue and her fidelity to 
him whom the law had made her rightful husband ; guarded the most 
scrupulous delicacy towards her ; and promised to do the part of a 
kinsman by her. 

In the morning he kept his word. We have a truly patriarchal 
picture of this wealthy and powerful man of Bethlehem sitting like 
Job in the gate of the city ; and, as all the inhabitants came forth, 
calling first the " Goel," or nearest kinsman of Elimelech, to sit beside 
him, and then asking ten of the elders to take their seats to witness 
and ratify the transaction. In their presence, he informed the " Goel " 
that Naomi had a field to sell, which must be redeemed either by him 
or by Boaz himself; and the " Goel " consented to redeem it, thus admit- 
ting the claim of kindred. But when Boaz went on to say, that if 
the " Goel " took the field, he must also take Ruth, the Moabitess, the 
wife of the dead, " to raise up the name of the dead upon his inher- 
itance," the kinsman found an excuse, and transferred the right of re- 
demption to Boaz. 

The ceremony prescribed by the law was then performed. The 
sandal of the kinsman was taken off in the presence of the elders and 
the people ; and Boaz called them to witness that he had bought of 
Naomi all that had belonged to Elimelech, and to his sons Chilion and 
Mahlon, and had purchased Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, 
to be his wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. 
The elders ratified the deed, invoking upon Ruth the blessing of 
Rachel and Leah, who had built the house of Israel, and that the 
house of Boaz might be made like that of his ancestor Pharez, the son 
ot Judah. The blessing was fulfilled more highly than they thought. 
Ruth bore to Boaz a son, named Obed, the father of Jesse, the father 
of David j and so Christ, " the Son of David," derived his lineage 



646 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



from a Moabitish woman, who had shown a faith rarely found in 
Israel, and whose husband was the son of the harlot Rahab.* 



SAMSON. 

An angel appeared to Manoah's wife, and promised she should 
have a son. Manoah made the promise the subject of special prayer, 
and inquired earnestly how the promised child should be educated. 
"And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, 
and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman ? 
And he said, I am. And Manoah said " — with great boldness ; the 
boldness of Christian faith, not of human presumption — " Now let 
thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how 
shall we do unto him ?" He was most anxious that so remarkable a 
child should have a rare and remarkable education. Being a divine 
gift, he desired that his instruction should be inspired by the divine 
presence. The angel repeated all he had already said to the woman, 
and indicated her duty strictly to observe all he commanded. Ma- 
noah said, " Let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid 
for thee." This Being appeared in human nature, and was recog- 
nized and visible as a man. " But he answered, Though thou detain 
me, I will not eat of thy bread as much as to say, I am a spiritual 
being ; I subsist not by earthly bread ; and, therefore, to ask me to 
partake of thy hospitality is to mistake my nature, my mission, and 
my office. "And if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer 
it unto the Lord." I have no doubt these words imply that it was to 
be offered unto himself, for it is added, "Manoah knew not that he 
was an angel of the Lord literally translated, " The angel Je- 
hovah." 

Samson was born, grew up, and proved himself a man of extra- 

* "As regards Rahab herself, we learn from Matt. i. 5, that she became the wife 
of Salmon, the son of Nasson, and the mother of Boaz, Jessie's grandfather. The 
suspicion naturally arises that Salmon may have been one of the spies whose life 
she saved ; and that gratitude for so great a benefit led, in his case, to a more ten- 
der passion, and obliterated the memory of any past disgrace attaching to her 
name. But however this may be, it is certain, on the authority of St. Matthew, 
that Rahab became the mother of the line from which sprung David, and eventu- 
ally 0111180'— Dr. Smith, 



648 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



ordinary physical strength — a judge, a soldier, and a hero. He 
married a woman of the Philistines against his duty, against the will 
of the nation, the Church, and the people whose avenger he had be- 
come ; and he therefore began to taste the bitter fruits of a marriage, 
not, as the apostle requires it always to be, "in the Lord," but 
dictated by his own passion and preference. Accordingly, as he had 
mingled in family connection with people that hated the living and 
the true God, the almost universal result came to ensue. He was 
contaminated by their principles, and his married life became a thorn 
in the flesh, that lasted till the very day of his death. It is a 
lesson that one ought never to omit to inculcate — all marriages 
should be, as the apostle says, in the Lord. The father of his wife 
wanted to take her from him, and to give her to another — that is, to 
the friend of the bridegroom. Wishing to see her in the harem, 
the place in which the women in Eastern countries still and in 
ancient times then were accustomed to meet, he found that her father 
would not suffer him even to. see her, while, with true Philistine 
morality, he offered Samson the sister instead of the wife, whom he 
had disposed of after his*own taste. A moral retribution runs through 
all this. Samson's wrath was kindled against all the Philistines, 
not from a divine spark, but from passion and in revenge. He 
seized three hundred foxes, and fastening them together, tail 
to tail, he tied to each couple a resinous ignited brand, let 
them loose in the corn fields, and thus destroyed the crops of the 
Philistines. 

Instruments God does not approve are often compelled, in provi- 
dence, to fulfil his purposes. The Philistines were a doomed, because 
a guilty race, and the very means that punished annoyed by their 
apparent insignificance. 

As soon as the Philistines heard this, they resolved to punish Sam- 
son by destroying his wife and her father also. The moral retribution 
speedily came. Samson was punished, as recorded; and his wife, 
who had acted so unfaithfully, and her father, who had acted so 
criminally, were both involved in the same dreadful retribution. 

Samson determined to be avenged; and therefore he smote them hip 
and thigh — as it were, completely, leaving not one behind — with a 
great slaughter, and went to the top of Mount Etam. 

The men of Judah — and this shows how debased they had become — 
instead of maintaining a bold front of opposition to the Philistines, 
and prosecuting the mission entrusted to them, namely, to extirpate 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



649 



that race, came to terms with them, and submitted to the yoke of that 
very people whom they, out of false compassion, spared. These He- 
brews resolved to bind Samson, in order to propitiate their masters. 
They had lost all patriotism, and all sense of duty and morality, all 
heroism of mind, all purity of heart ; and were prepared, at any price, 
to have peace with their masters, so as no longer to give them occa- 
sion to insult over them. They therefore seized, or rather sought the 
submission of, their greatest benefactor, bound him with cords, in- 
tending to hand him over to the Philistines, to do with him as they 
pleased. But, on their binding him, he burst the cords as if they had 
been flax exposed to the flame, and thereby showed the prodigious 
physical strength with which he was endued. As if to evince, at the 
same time, the greater degradation of the Philistines, and to make the 
instrument with which he destroyed them a memorial of their shame, 
he took a new jaw-bone — that is, not decayed, and therefore retaining 
great strength in it — of an ass, and with that mean instrument, so 
mean as to make the memory of the slain ignoble and degraded, he 
slew a thousand men. And he called the place where he threw it 
clown Ramath-lehi. 

Being thirsty, and expecting to die of thirst, and to fall into the 
hands of the uncircumcised, God heard his prayer, and clave p hol- 
low place — not, as in our translation, in the "jaw-bone." The 
Hebrew word lehi means a jaw-bone, and the place where he threw 
down the jaw-bone was called Ramath-lehi. God clave a fountain, 
not in the jaw-bone, but in the place in which he threw down the 
jaw-bone, namely, on the ground. The fountain was hollowed out 
by the hand of God, and thence came water. And he called the 
name of the place, most beautifully, En-hakkor; namely, "The place 
provided for him that called upon his God ; " " and it is in Lehi unto 
this day." 

Samson was the representation of the greatest physical strength ; 
Solomon was the type of the richest intellectual wisdom. Each 
had his gift by special grant, and both were employed for special 
ends. 

His wife, really his enemy, pressed him till his soul was vexed 
unto death by her persistent entreaties, her eloquent and touching 
appeals. At last, worn out, weary, able to stand it no more, he let 
out his secret. The secret of his strength was not in his hair, but in 
his vow as a Nazarite ; the condition of which was, that as long as he 
allowed his hair to grow, which a Nazarite was bound to do, and no* 



650 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



taste wine, so long his great strength would be in him ; but the mo- 
ment he did what was incompatible with the vow, shave off his hair, 
he would become as other men. 

He fell asleep after he had told her, resting his head upon her 
knee. In India one may often see a young man of eighteen or 
twenty — the mother seated on the carpet, not in a chair, as is the 
case in European latitudes — lean his head upon his mother's knee, 
and fall sweetly asleep. Samson, according to Eastern customs, 
did so; and then they brought a razor, and shaved his hair from his 
head. How could this be done without his waking? Easily. The 
sensation is rather soothing and agreeable than the reverse. What 
was done here was neither impossible nor improbable. Having thus 
taken off his hair, she roused him by crying, "The Philistines be 
upon thee ! And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out 
as at other times before, and shake myself" — little knowing Avhat a 
change had taken place — " and he wist not that the Lord was de- 
parted from him." 

The lords of the Philistines gave their god Dagon all the credit of 
their success, and resolved to glorify that god by the destruction of 
Samson, the enemy of their country. He must be made a show first. 
There were assembled all the aristocracy, and all the soldiers, and 
men, and great ladies of the Philistines, on the roof, and probably on 
scaffoldings, erected for the grand exhibition which was to take place, 
of this vanquished, strong man. It has been matter of great dispute 
how it was possible that his pulling down the two pillars could upset 
the whole house. Sir Christopher Wren, the eminent architect, the 
builder of St. Paul's, was consulted upon this subject ; and the ex- 
planation he gave was, that in all probability it was a roof of cedar, 
that there might have been one hundred, or one hundred and twenty, 
enormous beams, of great strength, all meeting at the centre. But 
as it would be impossible, or very improbable, that any pillar 
could be found on which all the ends of these beams could rest, 
as each approached a radius from the circumference — that there 
were two pillars, and an architrave connected with them, and that 
all the beams met together upon this short architrave, sustained 
by two pillars, each beam coming from the circumference of the 
vast building — that Samson stood between the pillars on Avhich the 
architrave was ; his strength was restored by his repentance, and he 
put forth his whole strength, and brought down the vast edifice, in- 
volving in its ruin the lords of the Philistines, and perishing himself 
in the catastrophe. 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 651 




PHILISTIA. 



So great gifts may exist, and great sins and imperfections. Grace 
is infinitely more precious than gifts. One first false step conducts to 
many evils. This giant suicide, " being dead, speaks " to us. 



SAMUEL. 



The last judge, the first of the regular succession of prophets, and 
the founder of the monarchy. He was the son of Elkanah. an Eph- 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. C53 



rathite or Ephraimite, and Hannah or Anna. The descent of Elka- 
nah is involved in great obscurity. In 1 Sam. i. 1, he is described as 
an Ephraimite. In 1 Chr. vi. 22, 23, he is made a descendant of 
Korah, the Levite. His birth-place is one of the vexed questions of 
sacred geography, as his descent is of sacred genealogy. The com- 
bined family must have been large. Pehinnah had several children; 
and Hannah had, besides Samuel, three sons and two daughters. It 
is on the mother of Samuel that our chief attention is fixed in the ac- 
count of his birth. She is described as a woman of a high religious 
mission. Almost a Nazarite by practice, and a prophetess in her 
gifts, she sought from God the gift of the child, for which she longed 
with a passionate devotion of silent prayer of which there is no other 
example in the Old Testament ; and, when the son was granted, the 
name which he bore, and thus first introduced into the world, ex- 
pressed her sense of the urgency of her entreaty — Samuel, "the 
Asked or Heard of God." Living in the great age of vows, she had 
before his birth dedicated him to the office of a Nazarite. As soon as 
he was weaned, she herself, with her husband, brought him to the 
Tabernacle at Shiloh, where she had received the first intimation of 
his birth, and there solemnly consecrated him. The hymn which 
followed on this consecration is the first of the kind in the sacred vol- 
ume. From this time, the child is shut up in the tabernacle. He 
seems to have slept within the Holiest Place, and his special duty was 
to put in order the sacred candlestick, and to open the doors at sunrise. 
In this way his childhood was passed. It was whilst thus sleeping in 
the tabernacle, that he received his first prophetic call. From this 
moment the prophetic character of Samuel was established. His 
words were treasured up, and Shiloh became the resort of those w r ho 
came to hear him. In the overthrow of the sanctuary, which fol- 
lowed shortly on this vision, we hear not what became of Samuel. 
He next appears, probably twenty years afterwards, suddenly amongst 
the people, warning them against their idolatrous practices. He con- 
vened an assembly at Mizpeh. It was at the moment that he was of- 
fering up a sacrifice, that the Philistine host suddenly burst upon 
them. A violent thunder-storm came to the timely assistance of 
Israel. The Philistines fled, and, exactly at the spot where twenty 
years before they had obtained their great victory, they were totally 
routed. A stone was set up, which long remained as a memorial of 
Israel's triumph, and gave to the place its name of Eben-ezer, " the 
Stone of Help." This was Samuel's first, and, as far as we know, his 



654 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



only military achievement. But it was apparently this which raised 
him to the office of "Judge." He visited, in discharge of his duties 
as ruler, the three chief sanctuaries on the west of Jordan — Bethel, 
Gilgal and Mizpeh. His own residence was still his native city, 
Ramah or Rama thai m, which he further consecrated by an altar. 
Here he married, and two sons grew up to repeat under his eyes, the 
same perversion of high office that he had himself witnessed in his 
childhood in the case of the two sons of Eli. In his old age, he 
shared his power with them. 

Down to this point in Samuel's life, there is but little to distinguish 
his career from that of his predecessors. But his peculiar position in 
the sacred narrative turns on the events which follow. He is the in- 
augurator of the transition from what is commonly called the theoc- 
racy to the monarchy. The misdemeanor of his own sons precipitated 
the catastrophe which had been long preparing. The people de- 
manded a king. For the whole night, he lay fasting and sleepless, in 
the perplexity of doubt and difficulty. In the vision of that night, 
as recorded by the sacred historian, is given the dark side of the new 
institution, on which Samuel dwells on the following day. This pre- 
sents his reluctance to receive the new order of things. The whole 
narrative of the reception and consecration of Saul gives his acquies- 
cence in it. The final conflict of feeling and surrender of his office is 
given in the last assembly over which he presided, and in his subse- 
quent relations with Saul. The assembly was held at Gilgal, imme- 
diately after the victory over the Ammonites. The monarchy was a 
second time solemnly inaugurated, and " Samuel and all the men of 
Israel rejoiced greatly/' Then takes place his farewell address. It 
hs the most signal example afforded in the Old Testament of a great 
character reconciling himself to a changed order of things, and of the 
divine sanction resting on his acquiescence. 

His subsequent relations with Saul are of the same mixed kind. 
The two institutions which they respectively represented ran on side 
by side. Samuel was still judge. He judged Israel " all the days 
of his life" and from time to time came across the king's path. But 
these interventions are chiefly in another capacity, which this is the 
place to unfold. Samuel is called emphatically "the prophet" (Acts 
iii. 24, xiii. 20). He was especially known in his old age as "Sam- 
uel the Seer" (1 Sam. ix. 11, 18, 19; 1 Chr. ix. 22, xxvi. 28, xxix. 
29). He was consulted far and near on the small affairs of life. 
From this faculty, combined with his office of ruler, an awful rever- 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 655 



?nce grew up around him. No sacrificial feast was thought complete 
without his blessing. A peculiar virtue was believed to reside in his 
intercession. There was something peculiar in the long-sustained cry 
or shout of supplication, which seemed to draw down as by force the 
divine answer. But there are two other points which more especially 
placed him at the head of the prophetic order as it afterwards ap- 
peared. The first is brought out in his relation with Saul, the second 
in his relation with David. 

He represents the independence of the moral law, of the Divine 
will, as distinct from regal or sacerdotal enactments, which is so re- 
markable a characteristic of all the later prophets. He was, if a Le- 
vi te, yet certainly not a priest; and all the attempts to identify his op- 
position to Saul with a hierarchical interest are founded on a complete 
misconception .of the facts of the case. From the time of the 
overthrow of Shiloh, he never appears in the remotest connection with 
the priestly order. When he counsels Saul, it is not as the priest, but 
as the prophet. Saul's sin, in both cases where he came into collision 
with Samuel, was not of intruding into sacerdotal functions, but of 
disobedience to the prophetic voice. The first was that of not waiting 
for Samuel's arrival, according to the sign given by Samuel at his 
original meeting at Rama ; the second was that of not carrying out 
the stern prophetic injunction for the destruction of the Amalekites. 
The parting was not one of rivals, but of dear, though divided, 
friends. The king throws himself on the prophet with all his 
force ; not without a vehement effort, the prophet tears himself 
away. 

He is the first of the regular succession of prophets. Moses, Miriam, 
and Deborah, perhaps Ehud, had been prophets. But it was only 
from Samuel that the continuous succession was unbroken. His 
mother, though not expressly so called, was in fact a prophetess. But 
the connection of the continuity of the office with Samuel appears to 
be still more direct. It is in his lifetime, long after he had been " estab- 
lished as a prophet," that we hear of the companies of disciples, called 
in the Old Testament " the sons of the prophets," by modern writers, 
" the schools of the prophets." In those schools, and learning to cul- 
tivate the prophetic gifts, were some whom we know for certain, others 
whom we may almost certainly conjecture to have been so trained or 
influenced. One was Saul. Twice, at least, he is described as having 
been in the company of Samuel's disciples. Another was David. 
The first acquaintance of Saul with David was when he privately 



656 



OLD TESTAMENT 



CHARACTERS. 



anointed him at the house of Jesse. But the connection thus begun 
with the shepherd-boy must have been continued afterwards. David 
at first fled to " Naioth in Raman," as to his second home. It is 
needless to enlarge on the importance with which these incidents in- 
vest the appearance of Samuel. He there becomes the spiritual father 
of the Psalmist king. He is also the founder of the first regular in- 
stitutions of religious instruction, and communities for the purposes of 
education. The death of Samuel is described as taking place in the year 
of the close of David's wanderings. It is said with peculiar emphasis, 
as if to mark the loss, that " all the Israelites were gathered together" 
from all parts of this hitherto divided country, and " lamented him," 
and " buried him," not in any consecrated place, nor outside the walls 
of his city, but within his own house, thus in a manner consecrated 
by being turned into his tomb. The place long pointed out as his 
tomb is the height, most conspicuous of all in the neighborhood of 
Jerusalem, immediately above the town of Gibeon, known to the Cru- 
saders as " Montjoye," as the spot from whence they first saw Jerusa- 
lem, now called Neby Samivil, " the Prophet Samuel." Heman, his 
grandson, was one of the chief singers in the Levitical choir. 

On the eve of the great battle of Gilboa, Saul in the midst of his 
despair, resorted to a woman known as a witch, living at Endor, and 
demanded of her that she should summon up the spirit of Samuel ; 
and God permitted the shade of the departed prophet to appear be- 
fore the doomed king, to give him warning of the fate which should 
befall him on the morrow. 



DAVID. 

Of all the characters of the Old Testament, there are few of which 
we know so much with certainty, or which appeal so warmly to our 
admiration, as David, the great King of Israel. He was the son of 
Jesse, who was the grandson of Ruth, and was the youngest son, 
orobably the youngest child, of a family of ten. His mother's name is 
unknown. His father was of a great age when David was still young, 
but both his parents lived till after his final rupture with Saul. His 
birth-place was Bethlehem, but he kept up his connections with his 
Moabitish relatives. 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 657 




GIDEON'S FLEECE. 



The first time David appears in history, was after Samuel's final 
* rupture with Saul, and when the prophet had been commanded by 
Jehovah to set apart a successor to the kingdom. There was a prac- 
tice once a year at Bethlehem, probably the first New Moon of the 
year, of holding a sacrificial feast, at which Jesse, as the chief pro- 
prietor of the place, would preside, with the elders of the town. At 
tlfts, or such like feast, suddenly appeared the great prophet, Samuel, 
driving a heifer before him, and having in his hand a horn of the 
consecrated oil of the Tabernacle. His arrival caused much alarm, 
but he assured the elders that he came in pea^e, and bade them and 
42 




658 



DAVID ANOINTED BY SAMUEL. 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



659 



the house of Jesse to sanctify themselves for the sacrifice. There the 
family of Jesse made a goodly show ; and he was surrounded by all 
his eight sons, except the youngest, who seems to have been of small 
consideration in the family, and accordingly was sent abroad to tend 
the sheep. Struck with the noble figure of the eldest son, Eliab, the 
very counterpart of Saul, Samuel said to himself, " Surely, the 
anointed of Jehovah is before me!" But he was warned not to 
judge a second time by so false a standard. Jehovah said to him, 
"Look not on his coun- /7>>l . . 

tenance, or on the . . "••> 

height of his stature, ~ . WSSm*: 

because I have refused 
him ; for it is not as 
man seeth ; for man 
looketh on the outward 
appearance, but Jeho- 
vah looketh on the 
heart." In like man- 
ner the prophet rejected 
all the rest of the seven. 
Samuel then asked Jesse, 
" Are all thy children 
here?" Xo ; there still 
remained the youngest, 
who was with the sheep. 
" Send and fetch him," 
said the prophet ; " for 
we will not sit down 
till he come." Soon david slaying the lion. 

there entered a fair youth, with reddish or auburn hair and keen 
bright eyes, his beautiful countenance flushed with his healthy oc- 
cupation, and his whole aspect pleasant to behold. Then Jehovah 
said to Samuel, " Up, and anoint him : for this is he !" In the pres- 
ence of his brethren, Samuel poured the sacred oil upon his head, and 
then returned to his house at Ratnah, having performed his last pub- 
lic act. " And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that 
day forward." 

This is all that we are distinctly told concerning David's early life 
in the Scriptures, save the adventure with the lion and the bear, 
which he slew in defence of his father's flocks, and which incident he 




660 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



himself relates to Saul. Saul's companions, in recommending him to 
the king as a minstrel, speak of him also as " a mighty, valiant man, 
and a man of war ;" from which it may be inferred, that his youth 
was not entirely given up to the peaceful pursuits of a shepherd, but 
that he early gained an enviable reputation in conflicts with Bedouin 
robbers or Philistine marauders. 

Some time after this, Saul was in spirit oppressed by the war against 
the Philistines, and by the foresight of the fate denounced against him 
by Samuel, and because almost insane in his fits of gloom and violence ; 
for " the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit 
from the Lord troubled him." His servants, who began to experi- 
ence the terrible caprices of a despot's incipient madness, advised him 
to try the charms of music, always powerful against melancholy, and 
believed in the East to possess a magical influence over wild and 
venomous beasts, as well as savage men. Saul consented, and sent to 
Bethlehem for David, who was recommended to him as a minstrel of 
extraordinary talent. Jesse sent his son with a present to the king; 
and that harp, which has since cheered many a perturbed spirit, re- 
freshed the soul of Saul, and dispelled his evil fancies. The narratoA* 
of this incident very naturally connects the favor gained by David's 
success with his ultimate advancement at the court of Saul, who ob- 
tained Jesse's consent to David's remaining with him, and made him 
his armor-bearer. But it does not follow that this took place at once; 
and such a view is quite inconsistent with the plain statement that 
David returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 
His departure from the court explains Saul's forgetful n ess, and Abner's 
ignorance of his person and family. The commander of the forces 
was not likely to trouble himself about the young shepherd-minstrel ; 
and, to say nothing of the proverbially short memory of kings for 
their benefactors, Saul had chiefly seen him in his hours of madness. 

The army of Israel was encamped at Ephes-Dammim, in the fron- 
tier hills of Judah. On the opposite side of the valley or ravine lay 
the hosts of the Philistines. The water-course of Elah, or " the Tere- 
binth " flowed between them. The two armies fronted each other in 
battle array morning after morning, but a strange cause delayed their 
conflict. A Philistine of gigantic stature, clothed in complete armor, 
Goliath of Gath, stalked down into the valley every day, to defy the 
champion of the Israelites to single combat, and proposed that the na- 
tion whose champion was defeated should serve the other. His ap- 
pearance struck dismay into Saul and all his people; they stood 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 661 



motionless throughout the day ; and at length, the defiance having 
been repeated in the evening, both armies retired to their camp. 

This scene had been repeated for forty days, when David returned 
to the camp, on a visit to his brethren. He reached the circle of the 
baggage outside the camp at the moment when both armies were drawn 
up, and the battle-cry was already raised. The martial spirit of the 
boy was stirred at the sound ; he left his provisions with the baggage- 
master, and darted to join his brothers, like one of the royal messen- 
gers, into the midst of the lines. There he heard the challenge, now 
made for the fortieth time — saw the dismay of his countrymen, and 
demanded indignantly, " Who is this Philistine, that he should defy 
the armies of the living God?" The bystanders told him that Saul 
would give his daughter to the man who should kill the Philistine, 
and enrich him greatly, and make his house free in Israel. Heedless 
of the taunts of Eliab, who rebuked his presumption with the author- 
ity of an elder brother, David repeated his inquiries till his words 
came to the ears of Saul, who sent for him. When brought before the 
king, he bade Israel dismiss their fear, for he would go and fight with 
the Philistine. Not with proud contempt, but with generous anxiety, 
Saul reminded him that he was but a youth, and the Philistine a 
warrior from his youth. But David had a shepherd's exploits against 
wild beasts, not to boast of, but to plead in support of his faith, that 
"Jehovah who delivered him out of the paw of the lion, and out of 
the paw of the bear, would deliver him out of the hand of the Philis- 
tine." " Go ! and Jehovah be with thee," said Saul, his own early 
trust in God revived by the contagion of example. He armed David 
for the combat in his own armor, which was one of the few perfect 
suits in the camp of Israel, and girded him with his own sword : but 
David, after the first few steps, cast them off as an untried encum- 
brance, and betook himself to those shepherd's weapons, for their skill 
in which his countrymen were famous. The only arms of David were 
his shepherd's staff and sling, with five pebbles which he took from 
the water-course, and placed in his pouch. The Philistine's scorn for 
the ruddy youth swelled into rage at the mode of his attack : " Am I 
a dog, that thou comest to me with staves ?" He seems to have over- 
looked the sling, "and he cursed him by his gods." David answeied 
his threats with the calm certainty of victory, which befitted a cham- 
pion who avowed that the battle was Jehovah's. Both advanced, 
David with the swiftness of foot for which he was famous ; but before 
his foe came close, he took a stone from his bag, and slung it into the 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



663 



forehead of the Philistine, who fell to the ground upon his faee. 
David rushed in and stood upon him, and drawing the Philistine's 
own sword from its sheath, he cut off his head. At this sight the Phil- 
istine army fled, pursued by Israel with great slaughter as far as Gath, 
and even to the gates of Ekron, whence the victors returned to spoil 
their camp. David's own trophies were the head, the sword, and the 
armor of the fallen champion. The first he exposed at Jerusalem; the 
second he put in his own tent; and the last he laid up in the taber- 
nacle at Nob, till he took it for his own weapon in his time of need. 

The victory over Goliath was the turning point in David's career. 
Saul inquired his parentage, and took him finally to his court. Jona- 
than was inspired by the romantic friendship which bound the two 
youths together to the end of their lives. The triumphant songs of 
the Israeli tish women announced that they felt that in him Israel 
had now found a deliverer mightier even than Saul ; and in these 
songs, and in the fame which David thus acquired, was laid the foun- 
dation of that unhappy jealousy of Saul towards him, which, 
mingling with the king's constitutional malady, poisoned his whole 
future relations to David. Three new qualities now began to develop 
themselves in David's character. The first was his prudence. It Avas 
that peculiar Jewish caution which has been compared to the sagacity 
of a hunted animal, such as is remarked in Jacob, and afterwards in 
the persecuted Israelites of the middle ages. Secondly, we now see 
his magnanimous forbearance called forth, in the first instance, towards 
Saul, but displaying itself (with a few painful exceptions) in the rest 
of his life. He is the first example of the virtue of chivalry. Thirdly, 
his hair-breadth escapes, continued through so many years, impressed 
upon him a sense of dependence on the Divine help, clearly derived 
from this epoch. 

This course of life subdivides itself into four portions : 
1. His life at the court of Saul till his final escape. His office is 
not exactly denned. But it would seem, that, having been first 
armor-bearer, then made captain over a thousand — the subdivision of 
a tribe — he finally, on his marriage with Michal, the king's second 
daughter, was raised to the high office of captain of the king's body- 
guard, second only, if not equal, to Abner, the captain of the host, 
and Jonathan, the heir apparent. These three formed the usual com- 
panions of the king at his meals. David was now chiefly known for 
his successful exploits against the Philistines, by one of which he won 
his wife, and drove back the Philistine power with a blow from 



664 OLD TESTA M E N T CHARACTERS 



which it only rallied at the disastrous close of Saul's reign. He also 
still performed from time to time the office of minstrel. But the suc- 
cessive snares laid by Saul to entrap him, and the open violence into 
which the king's madness twice broke out, at last convinced him that 



his life was no 



longer safe. 



He had two 



faithful allies, however, in 
the court — the son 
of Saul, his friend 
J on a th an — the 
daughter of Saul, 
his wife Michal. 
Warned by the one, 
and assisted by the 
other, he escaped by 
night, and was from 
thenceforward a fu- 
gitive. Jonathan 
he never saw again, 
except by stealth. 
JSIichal was given 
in marriage to an- 
other (Phaltiel), and 
he saw her no more 
till long after her 
father's death 

2. His escape. 
He first fled toNai- 
oth (or the pastures) 
of Ramah. to Sam- 
uel. This is the 
first recorded occa- 
sion of his meeting 
with Samuel since 
the original inter- 
view during his 
boyhood at Bethle* 
hem. Up to this time both the king and himself had thought that a 
re-union was possible. But the madness of Saul now became more 
6ettled and ferocious in character, and David's danger proportionably 
greater. The secret interview with Jonathan confirmed the alarm 
already excited by Saul's endeavor to seize him at Ramah , and he 




TOMB OF ESTHER AND MORDECAI. 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 665 



now determined to leave his country, and take refuge, like Coriolanus 
or Themistocles in like circumstances, in the court of his enemy. 
Before this last resolve, he visited Nob, the seat of the tabernacle, 
partly to obtain a final interview with the high priest, partly to obtain 
food and weapons. On the pretext of a secret mission from Saul, he 
gained an answer from the oracle, some of the consecrated loaves, and 
the consecrated sword of Goliath. His stay at the court of Achish 
was short. Discovered possibly by "the sword of Goliath/' his 
presence revived the national enmity of the Philistines against their 
former conqueror, and he only escaped by feigning madness. 

3. His life as an independent outlaw. His first retreat was the 
cave of Adullam, probably the large cavern, not far from Bethlehem, 
now called Khureitun. From its vicinity to Bethlehem, he was 
joined there by his whole family, now feeling themselves insecure 
from Saul's fury. This was probably the foundation of his intimate 
connection with his nephews, the sons of Zeruiah. Besides these, 
were outlaws and debtors from every part. His next move was to a 
stronghold, either the mountain, afterwards called Herodium, close to 
Adullam, or the fastness called by Josepus Masada, the Grecized 
form of the Hebrew word Matzed, in the neighborhood of En-gedi. 
While there, he had deposited his aged parents, for the sake of greater 
security, beyond the Jordan, with their ancestral kinsman of Moab. 
The neighboring king, Nahash of Amnion, also treated him kindly. 
Here occurred the chivalrous exploit of the three heroes to procure 
water from the well of Bethlehem, and David's chivalrous answer, 
like that of Alexander in the desert of Gedrosia. He was joined here 
by two separate bands. One a little body of eleven fierce Gadite 
mountaineers, who swam the Jordan in flood-time to reach him. 
Another was a detachment of men from Judah and Benjamin, under 
his nephew Amasa, who henceforth attached himself to David's for- 
tunes. At the warning of Gad, he fled next to the forest of Hareth, 
and then again fell in with the Philistines, and again, apparently ad- 
vised by Gad, made a descent on their foraging parties, and relieved 
Keilah, in which he took up his abode. Whilst there, now for the 
first time in a fortified town of his own, he was joined by a new 
and most important ally — Abiathar, the last survivor of the house of 
Ithamar. By this time the four hundred who had joined him at 
Adullam had swelled to six hundred. The situation of David was 
now changed by the appearance of Saul himself on the scene. Ap- 
parently the danger was too great for the little army to keep together. 



666 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



They escaped from Keilah, and dispersed, " whithersover they could 
go," amongst the fastnesses of Judah. Henceforth it becomes difficult 
to follow his movements with exactness. But thus much we discern. 
He is in the wilderness of Ziph. Once (or twice) the Ziphites betray 
his movements to Saul. From thence Saul literally hunts him like a 
partridge, the treacherous Ziphites beating the bushes before him, and 
three thousand men stationed to catch even the print of his footsteps 
on the hills. David finds himself driven to the extreme south of Ju- 
dah, in the wilderness of Maon. On two, if not three occasions, the 
pursuer and pursued catch sight of each other. Whilst he was in the 
wilderness of Maon occurred David's adventure with Nabal, in- 
structive as showing his mode of carrying on the freebooter's life, and 
his marriage with Abigail. His marriage with Ahinoam, from 
Jezreel, also in the same neighborhood, seems to have taken place a 
short time before. 

4, His service under Achish. Wearied with his wandering life, he at 
last crosses the Philistine frontier, not, as before, in the capacity of a 
fugitive, but the chief of a powerful band — his 600 men now grown 
into an organized force, with their wives and families around them. 
After the manner of Eastern potentates, Achish gave him for his sup- 
port, a city — Ziklag on the frontier of Philistia. There we meet with 
the first note of time in David's life. He was settled there for a year 
and jour months, and a body of Benjamite archers and stingers, 
twenty-two of whom are specially named, joined him from the very 
tribe of his rival. He deceived Achish into confidence by attacking 
the old Nomadic inhabitants of the desert frontier, and representing 
the plunder to be of portions of the southern tribes or the Nomadic 
allied tribes of Israel. But this confidence was not shared by the 
Philistine nobles, and accordingly David was sent back by Achish 
from the last victorious campaign against Saul. During his absence, 
the Bedouin Amalekites, whom he had plundered during the previous 
year, had made a descent upon Ziklag, burnt it to the ground, and 
carried off the wives and children of the new settlement. A wild 
scene of frantic grief and recrimination ensued between David and 
his followers. It was calmed by an oracle of assurance from Abiathar. 
Assisted by the Manassites who had joined him on the march to Gil- 
boa, he overtook the invaders in the desert, and recovered the spoil. 
Two days after this victory, a Bedouin arrived from the north with 
the fatal news of the defeat of Gilboa. The reception of the tidings 
of the death of his rival and of his friend, the solemn mourning, the 



668 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



vent of his indignation against the bearer of the message, the pathetic 
lamentation that followed, well close the second period of David's 
life. 

David's reign as king of Judah began at Hebron, where he reigned 
seven and a half years. Hebron was selected, doubtless, as the an- 
cient sacred city of the tribe of Jndah, the bnrial-place of the patri- 
archs and the inheritance of Caleb. Here David was first formally 
anointed king. To Jndah his dominion was nominally confined. 
Gradually his power increased, and during the two years which fol- 
lowed the elevation of Ishbosheth, a series of skirmishes took place 
between the two kingdoms. Then rapidly followed, though without 
David's consent, the successive murders of Abner and of Ishbosh- 
eth. The throne, so long waiting for him, w T as now vacant, and the 
united voice of the whole people at once called him to occupy it. A 
solemn league was made between him and his people. For the third 
time, David was anointed king, and a festival of three days celebrated 
the joyful event. His little band had now swelled into " a great 
host, like the host of God." The command of it, which had formerly 
rested on David alone, he now devolved on his nephew, Joab. Reign 
over all Israel thirty-three years. Now occurred the foundation of 
Jerusalem. One fastness alone in the centre of the land had hitherto 
defied the arms of Israel. On this, with a singular prescience, David 
fixed as his future capital. By one sudden assault Jebus was taken. 
The reward bestowed on the successful scaler of the precipice, was the 
highest place in the army. Joab henceforward became captain of the 
host. The royal residence was instantly fixed there — fortifications 
were added by the king and by Joab — and it was known by the 
special name of the " city of David." The Philistines made two in- 
effectual attacks on the new king, and a retribution on their former 
victories took place by the capture and conflagration of their own 
idols. Tyre, now for the first time appearing in the sacred history, 
allied herself with Israel ; and Hiram sent cedar-wood for the build- 
ings of the new capital, especially for the palace of David himself 
Unhallowed and profane as the city had been before, it was at once 
elevated to a sanctity which it has never lost, above any of the ancient 
sanctuaries of the land. The ark was now removed from its obscurity 
at Kirjath-jearim with marked solemnity. A temporary halt (owing 
to the death of Uzza) detained it at Obed-edom's house, after which 
it again moved forward with great state to Jerusalem, It was the 
greatest day of David's life. One incident only tarnished its splendor 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



669 



—the reproach of Michal, his wife, as he was finally entering his own 
palace, to carry to his own household the benediction which he had 
already pronounced on his people. His act of severity towards her 
was an additional mark of the stress which he himself laid on the 
solemnity. 

The erection of the new capital at Jerusalem introduces us to a new 
era in David's life, and in the history of the monarchy. He became 
a king on the scale of the great Oriental sovereigns of Egypt and 
Persia, with a regular administration and organization of court and 
camp ; and he also founded an imperial dominion, which for the first 
time realized the prophetic description of the bounds of the chosen 
people. The internal organization now established lasted till the final 
overthrow of the monarchy. The empire was of much shorter dura- 
tion, continuing only through the reigns of David and his successor, 
Solomon. But, for the period of its existence, it lent a peculiar char- 
acter to the sacred history. In the internal organization of the king- 
dom, the first new element that has to be considered is the royal fam- 
ily, the dynasty of which David was the founder, a position which 
entitled him to the name of "Patriarch," and (ultimately) of the an- 
cestor of the Messiah. Of these, Absalom and Adonijah both inher- 
ited their father's beauty, but Solomon alone possessed any of his 
higher qualities. It was from a union of the children of Solomon 
and Absalom that the royal line was carried on. David's strong pa- 
rental affection for all of them is remarkable. 

The military organization, which was in fact inherited from Saul, 
but greatly developed by David, was as follows: 1. "The Host," 
that is, the whole available military force of Israel, consisting of all 
males capable of bearing arms. It comprised twelve divisions, each 
24,000 strong ; one of these was on duty each month, and each was 
commanded by an officer of tried experience and valor. Over all 
was the "Captain of the Host," or, Commander-in-Chief. There 
were no horsemen in this army, and but a limited number of chariots. 
2. The " Body-Guard," which had also existed in Saul's Court. 
Under David its character was greatly changed. The men were for- 
eigners, at least in name, but the Captain was an Israelite of high 
position and a tried soldier. 3. The most peculiar military insti- 
tution in David's army was that which arose out of the peculiar 
circumstances of his early life. The nucleus of what afterwards be- 
came the only standing army in David's forces was the band of six 
hundred men who had gathered round him in his*wanderings. The 



6?0 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



number of six hundred was still preserved. It became jet further 
subdivided into three large bands of two hundred each, and small 
bands of twenty each. The small bands were commanded by thirty 
officers, one for each band, who together formed " the thirty," and 
the three large bands by three officers, who together formed "the 
three," and the whole by one Chief, "the Captain of the mighty 
men." 

Side by side with this military organization were established social 
and moral institutions. Some were entirely for agricultural, pastoral, 
and financial purposes; others for judicial. But the more peculiar of 
David's institutions were those directly bearing on religion. They 
will all be found described in the sacred narrative. 

Within ten years from the capture of Jerusalem, David had reduced 
to a state of perfect subjection the Philistines on the west ; the Moab- 
ites on the east; the Syrians on the northeast as far as the Euphrates; 
the Edomites on the south ; and finally the Ammonites, who had 
broken their ancient alliance and made one grand resistance to the 
advance of his empire. 

Three great calamities may be selected as marking the beginning, 
middle, and close of David's otherwise prosperous reign. Of these, 
the first introduces us to the last notices of David's relations with the 
house of Saul. This is the three years' famine. There has often 
arisen a painful suspicion in later times, as there seems to have 
been at the time, that the oracle, which gave as the cause of the 
famine Saul's massacre of the Gibeonites, may have been connected 
with the desire to extinguish the last remains of the fallen dynasty. 
But such an explanation is not needed. The massacre was probably 
the most recent national crime that had left any deep impression; and 
the whole tenor of David's conduct towards Saul's family is of an 
opposite kind. The second group of incidents contains the tragedy 
of David's life, which grew, in all its parts, out of the polygamy, 
with its evil consequences, into which he had plunged on becoming 
king. Underneath the splendor of his last glorious campaign against 
the Ammonites was a dark story, known probably at that time only 
to a very few ; the double crime of adultery with Bathsheba, and of 
the virtual murder of Uriah. The crimes are undoubtedly those of 
a common Oriental despot. But the rebuke of Xathan ; the sudden 
revival of the king's conscience ; his grief for the sickness of the 
child ; the gathering of his uncles and elder brothers around him ; his 
return of hope and peace ; are characteristic of David, and of David 




671 



672 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



only. But the clouds from this time gathered over David's fortunes, 
and henceforward " the sword never departed from his house." The 
outrage on his daughter Taniar; the murder of his eldest son Amnon; 
and then the revolt of his best-beloved Absalom, brought on the crisis 
which once more sent him forth a wanderer, as in the days when he 
fled from Saul; and this, the heaviest trial of his life, was aggravated 
by the impetuosity of Joab, now perhaps, from his complicity in 
David's crime, more unmanageable than ever. The rebellion was 
fostered apparently by the growing jealousy of the tribe of Judah at 
seeing their king absorbed into the whole nation ; and if, as appears 
from 2 Sam. xi. 3, xxiii. 34, Ahithopel was the grandfather of Bath- 
sheba, its main supporter was one whom David had provoked by his 
own crimes. For its general course the reader is referred to the 
names just mentioned. Mahanaim was the capital of David's exile, 
as it had been of the exiled house of Saul. His forces were arranged 
under the thiee great military officers who remained faithful to his 
fortunes — Joab, captain of the host ; Abishai, captain of " the mighty 
men ; " and Ittai, who seems to have taken the place of Benaiah, as 
captain of the guard. On Absalom's side was David's nephew 
Amasa. The final battle was fought in the " forest of Ephraim," 
which terminated in the accident leading to the death of Absalom. 
At this point the narrative resumes its minute detail. The return 
was marked at every stage by rejoicing and amnesty. Judah was 
first reconciled. The embers of the insurrection, still smouldering in 
David's hereditary enemies of the tribe cf Benjamin, were trampled 
out by the mixture of boldness and sagacity in Joab, now, after the 
murder of Amasa, once more in his old position. And David again 
refigned in undisturbed peace at Jerusalem. 

The closing period of David's life, with the exception of one great 
calamity, may be considered as a gradual preparation for the reign of 
his successor. This calamity was the three days' pestilence which vis- 
ited Jerusalem at the warning of the prophet Gad. The occasion 
which led to this warning was the census of the people taken by Joab 
at the king's orders. Joab's repugnance to the measure was such that 
he refused altogether to number Levi and Benjamin. The plague and 
its cessation were comemmorated down to the latest times of the Jew- 
ish nation. Outside the walls of Jerusalem, Araunah, or Ornan, a 
wealthy Jebusite — perhaps even the ancient king of Jebus — possessed 
a threshing-floor ; there he and his sons were engaged in threshing the 
corn gathered in from the harvest. At this spot an awful vision ap- 




THE QUEEN 



SHEBAS VISIT TO SOLOMON. 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 673 



peared, such as is described in the later days of Jerusalem, of the 
Angel of the Lord stretching oiu a drawn sword between earth and 
sky over the devoted city. The scene of such an apparition at such a 
moment was at once marked out for a sanctuary. David demanded., 
and Araunah willingly granted, the site ; the altar was erected on the 
rock of the threshing-floor ; the place was called by the name of 
" Morwk" and for the first time a holy place, sanctified by a vision 
of the Divine presence, was. recognized in Jerusalem. It was this spot 
which afterwards became the altar of the Temple, and therefore the 
centre of the national worship, with but slight interruption, for more 
than 1,000 years, and it is even contended that the same spot is the 
rock, still regarded with almost idolatrous veneration, in the centre of 
the Mussulman " Dome of the Rock." 

A formidable conspiracy to interrupt the succession broke out in 
the last days of David's reign, which detached from his person two of 
his court, who, from personal offence or adherence to the ancient 
family, had been alienated from him — Joab and Abiathar. But Za- 
dok, Nathan, Benaiah, Shimei, and Rei remaining firm, the plot was 
stifled, and Solomon's inauguration took place under his father's aus- 
pices. By this time David's infirmities had grown upon him. The 
warmth of his exhausted frame was attempted to be restored by the 
introduction of a young Shunamite, of the name of Abishag, men- 
tioned apparently for the sake of an incident which grew up in con- 
nection with her out of the later events. His last song is preserved 
— a striking union of the ideal of a just ruler which he had placed 
before him, and of the difficulties which he had felt in realizing it. 
His last words, as recorded, to his successor, are general exhortations 
to his duty, combined with warnings against Joab and Shimei, and 
charges to remember the children of Barzillai. He died, according to 
Josephus, at the age of 70, and "was buried in the city of David. " 
After the return from the captivity, " the sepulchres of David " were 
still pointed out u between Siloah and the house of the mighty men," 
or "the guard-house." His tomb, which became the general sepul- 
chre of the kings of Judah, was pointed out in the latest times of the 
Jewish people. The edifice shown as such from the Crusades to the 
present day, is on the southern hill of modern Jerusalem, commonly 
called Mount Zion, and under the so-called " Ooenaculum ;" but it 
cannot be identified with the tomb of David, which was emphatically 
within the walls. 
43 



6?4 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



SOLOMON. 

Solomon was the child of David's old age, the latest born of all 
his sons, and the offspring of the beautiful Bathsheba. The feelings 
of the king and of his prophet-guide expressed themselves in the 
name with which they welcomed his birth. The yearnings of the 
man of war now led him to give to the new-born infant the name of 
Solomon [the peaceful one). He was placed under the care of Nathan 
from his earliest infancy At first, apparently, there was no distinct 
purpose to make him heir. Absalom was still the king's favorite son, 
and was looked on by the people as his destined successor. The death 
of Absalom, when Solomon was about ten years old, left the place 
vacant, and David pledged his word in secret to Bathsheba that he, 
and no other, should be the heir. 

The feebleness of David's old age led to an attempt which might 
nave deprived Solomon of the throne his father destined for him. 
Adonijah, next in order of birth to Solomon, like Absalom, " was a 
goodly man," in full maturity of years, backed by the oldest of the 
king's friends and counsellors. Following in the steps of Absalom, 
he assumed the kingly state of a chariot and a body-guard. At last 
a time was chosen for openly proclaiming him as king. A solemn 
feast at En-Rogel was to inaugurate the new reign. It was neces- 
sary lor those whose interests were endangered, to take prompt 
measures. Bathsheba and Nathan took counsel together. The king 
was reminded of his oath. Solomon went down to Gihon, and was 
proclaimed and anointed king. The shouts of his followers fell on 
the startled ears of the guests at Adonijah's banquet. One by one 
they rose and departed. The plot had failed. A few months more, 
and Solomon found himself, by his father's death, the sole occupant 
of the throne. The position to which he succeeded was unique. 
Never before, and never after, did the kingdom of Israel take its 
place among the great monarchies of the East. Large treasures, ac- 
cumulated through many years, were at his disposal. Of Solomon's 
personal appearance we have no direct description, as we have of the 
earlier kings. There are, however, materials for filling up the gap. 
Whatever higher mystic meaning may be latent in Psalm xlv., or the 
Song of Songs, we are all but compelled to think of them as having 
had, at least, an historical starting-point. They tell us of one who 
was ; in the eyes of the men of his own time, " fairer than the children 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 675 




THE IIIGHTEOJJS JUDGMENT OF SOLOMOX. 

of men " — the face " bright and ruddy " as his father's — bushy locks, 
dark as the raven's wing, yet not without a golden glow — the eyes soil 
as "the eyes of doves" — the "countenance as Lebanon, excellent as 
the cedars" — thechiefest among ten thousand — "the altogether lovely." 
Add to this, all gifts of a noble, far-reaching intellect — large and 
ready sympathies — a playful and genial humor — the lips "full of 
grace" — the soul "anointed," as "with the oil of gladness. 

The narrative of the earliest facts in the history of the new reign, 
as told in 1 Kings ii., is not a little perplexing. Bathsheba, who had 
before stirred up David against Adonijah, now appears as interceding 
for him, begging that Abishag the Shunamite, the virgin concubine 
of David, might be given him as a wife. Solomon, who till then had 
professed the profoundest reverence for his mother, suddenly flashes 
into fiercest wrath at this. The petition is treated as part of a con- 
spiracy in which Joab and Abiathar are sharers. Adonijah is put to 
death at once. Joab is slain even within the precincts of the taberna- 
cle, to which he had fled as an asylum. Abiathar is deposed and 
exiled, sent to a life of poverty and shame, and the high-priesthood 
transferred to another family. 

Solomon was king over Israel for forty years. The first act of the 
foreign policy of the new reign must have been to most Israelites a 
very startling one. He made affinity with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 677 



by marrying his daughter. The immediate results were probably 
favorable enough. The new queen brought with her as a dowry the 
frontier city of Gezer, against which, as threatening the tranquillity 
of Israel, and as still possessed by a remnant of the old Canaanites, 
Pharaoh had led his armies. She was received with all honor. A 
separate and stately palace was built for her, before long, outside the 
city of David. The ultimate issue of the alliance showed that it was 
hollow and impolitic. There may have been a revolution in Egypt. 
There was, at any rate a change of policy. ' There was planned the 
scheme which first led to the rebellion of the ten tribes, and then to 
the attack of Shishak on the weakened and dismantled kingdom of the 
son of Solomon. 

The alliance with the Phoenician king rested on a somewhat differ- 
ent footing. It had been part of David's policy from the beginning 
of his reign. Hiram had been " ever a lover of David." As soon as 
he heard of Solomon's accession, he sent ambassadors to salute him. 
A correspondence passed between the two kings, which ended »n a 
treaty of commerce. The opening of Joppa as a port created a new 
coasting trade, and the materials from Tyre w r ere conveyed to it on 
floats, and thence to Jerusalem. In return for these exports, the Phoe- 
nicians were only too glad to receive the corn and oil of Solomon's 
territory. The results of the alliance did not end here. Now, for 
the first time in the history of Israel, they entered on a career as a 
commercial people. They joined the Phoenicians in their Mediterra- 
nean voyages to the coast of Spain. Solomon's possession of the 
Edomite coast enabled him to open to his ally a new w r orld of com- 
merce. The ports of Elath and Ezion-geber were filled with ships of 
Tarshish, merchant ships, manned chiefly by Phoenicians, but built 
at Solomon's expense, which sailed down the ^Elanitic Gulf of the 
Red Sea, on to the Indian Ocean, to lands which had before been 
hardly known even by name. 

These were the two most important alliances. The absence of any 
reference to Babylon and Assyria, and the fact that the Euphrates was 
recognized as the boundary of Solomon's kingdom, suggest the infer- 
ence that the Mesopotamian monarchies were at this time compara- 
tively feeble. Other neighboring nations were content to pay annual 
tribute in the form of gifts. 

The survey of the influence exercised by Solomon on surrounding 
nations would be incomplete if we were to pass over that which was 
more directly personal — the fame of his glory and his wisdom. 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 679 



Wherever the ships of Tarshish went, they carried with them the re- 
port, losing nothing in its passage, of what their crews had seen and 
heard. The journey of the Queen of Sheba, though from its circum- 
stances the most conspicuous, did not stand alone. She had heard of 
the wisdom of Solomon, and connected with it " the name of Jehovah." 
She came with hard questions to test that wisdom, and the words just 
quoted may throw light upon their nature. The historians of Israel 
delighted to dwell on her confession, that the reality surpassed the 
fame ; " the one-half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told 
me." 

The first prominent scene in Solomon's reign is one which presents 
his character in its noblest aspect. There were two holy places which 
divided the reverence of the people — the Ark and its provisional 
tabernacle at Jerusalem, and the original Tabernacle of the congrega- 
tion, which, after many wanderings, was now pitched at Gibeon. It 
was thought right that the new king should offer solemn sacrifices at 
both. After those at Gibeon, there came that vision of the night, 
in which Solomon prayed, not for riches, or long life, or victory over 
enemies, but for a " wise and understanding heart," that he might 
judge the people. The " speech pleased the Lord." The wisdom 
asked for was given in large measure, and took a varied range. The 
wide world of nature, animate and inanimate, the lives and characters 
of men, lay before him, and he took cognizance of all. But the high- 
est wisdom was that wanted for the highest work — for governing and 
guiding; and the historian hastens to give an illustration of it. 
The pattern-instance is, in all its circumstances, thoroughly Ori- 
ental. 

In reference to the king's finances, the first impression of the facts 
given us is that of abounding plenty. Large quantities of the pre- 
cious metals were imported from Ophir and Tarshish. All the kings 
and princes of the subject-provinces paid tribute in the form of gifts, 
in money and in kind, " at a fixed rate, year by year." Monopolies 
of trade contributed to the king's treasury. The king's domain-lands 
were apparently let out, at a fixed annual rental. All the provinces 
of his own kingdom were bound each in turn to supply the king's 
enormous household with provisions. The total amount thus brought 
into the treasury in gold, exclusive of all payments in kind, amounted 
to 666 talents. 

It was hardly possible, however, that any financial system could 
War the strain of the king's passion for magnificence. The cost of the 



680 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS 




SOLOMON'S TEMPLE. 



Temple was, it is true, provided for by David's savings and the offer- 
ings of the people ; but even while that was building, yet more when 
it was finished, one structure followed on another with ruinous rapid- 
ity. All the equipment of his court, the " apparel " of his servants, 
was on the same scale. A body guard attended him, "three score 
valiant men," tallest and handsomest of the sons of Israel. Forty 
thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horse- 
men made up the measure of his magnificence. As the treasury be- 
came empty, taxes multiplied, and monopolies became more irksome. 
The people complained, not of the king's idolatry, but of their burdens 
of his " grievous yoke." Their hatred fell heaviest on Adoniram, 
who was over the tribute. 

The Temple was the grandest and most memorable monument of 
Solomon's reign. As in the Tabernacle, the Temple consisted of three 
parts, the Porch, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. The Porch 
of the Temple was ten cubits deep, the width in both instances being 
the width of the house. The front of the porch was supported after 
the manner of some Egyptian temples, by the two great brazen pillars, 
Jachin and Boaz, eighteen cubits high, with capitals of five cubits 
more, adorned with lily work and pomegranates. The Holy Place, 
or outer hall, was forty cubits long, by twenty wide. The Holy of 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



681 



Holies was a cube of twenty cubits. The places of the two " veils " 
of the Tabernacle were occupied by partitions, in which were folding 
doors. The whole interior was lined with wood work, richly carved, 
and overlaid with gold. Indeed, both within and without, the build- 
ing was conspicuous chiefly by the lavish use of the gold of Ophir and 
Parvaim. It glittered in the morning sun, (it has been well said) like 
the sanctuary of an El Dorado. Above the sacred ark, which was 
placed, as of old, in the Most Holy Place, were made new cherubim, 
one pair of whose wings met above the ark, and another pair reached 
to the walls behind them. In the Holy Place, besides the Altar of 
Incense, which was made of cedar, overlaid with gold, there were 
seven golden candlesticks instead of one, and the table of show-bread 
was replaced by ten golden tables, bearing, besides the show-bread, 
the innumerable golden vessels for the service of the sanctuary. The 
Outer Court was, no doubt, double the size of that of the Tabernacle. 
It contained an inner court, called the " court of the priests." 

In the outer court there was a new altar of burnt-offering, much 
larger than the old one. Like the latter, it was square; but the 
length and breadth were now twenty cubits, and the height ten. It 
differed, too, in the material of which it was made, being entirely of 
brass. It had no grating; an£ instead of a single gradual slope, the 
ascent to it was probably made by three successive platforms, to each 
of which it has been supposed that brazen steps led. Instead of the 
brazen laver, there was a " molten sea " of brass, a master-piece of 
Hiram's skill, for the ablution of the priests. It stood on twelve 
oxen, three toward each quarter of the heavens, and all looking out- 
ward. The brim itself, or lip, was carved outward like a lily or lotus 
flower. There were, besides, ten smaller lavers for the ablution of 
the burnt-offerings. The chambers for the priests were arranged in 
successive stories against the sides of the sanctuary ; not, however, 
reaching to the top, so as to leave space for the windows to light the 
Holy and Most Holy Places. We are told by Josephus and the Tal- 
mud, that there was a superstructure on the Temple, equal in height 
to the lower part ; and this is confirmed by the statement in the Books 
of Chronicles, that Solomon " overlaid the upper chambers with 
gold." 

After seven years and a half of constant work, this magnificent edi- 
fice was completed, and the day came to which all Israelites looked 
back as the culminating glory of their nation. The Ark from Zion, 
the Tabernacle from Gibeon, were both removed and brought to the 



682 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



new Temple. In the solemn dedication of the building, the person 
of the king is the one central object, compared with whom even 
priests and prophets are, for the time, subordinate. From him came 
the lofty prayer, the noblest utterance of the creed of Israel, setting 
forth the distance and nearness of the Eternal God, One, incompre- 
hensible, dwelling not in temples made with hands, yet ruling men, 
hearing their prayers, giving them all good things — wisdom, peace, 
righteousness. 

But the king soon fell from the loftiest heights of his religious life 
to his lowest depth. Before long, the priests and prophets had to 
grieve over rival temples to Moloch, Chemosh, Ashtaroth, forms of 
ritual not only idolatrous, but cruel, dark, impure. This evil came 
as the penalty of another. He gave himself to " strange women." 
He found himself involved in a fascination which led to the worship 
of strange gods. Disasters followed before long, as the natural conse- 
quence of what was politically a blunder, as well as religiously a sin. 
The strength of the nation rested on its unity, and its unity depended 
on its faith. Whatever attractions the sensuous ritual which he intro- 
duced may have had for the great body of the people, the priests and 
Levites looked on the rival worship with entire disfavor. The zeal 
of the prophetic order was now kindled into active opposition. The 
king in vain tried to check the current that was setting strong 
against him. The old tribal jealousies gave signs of renewed vitality. 
Ephraim was prepared once more to dispute the supremacy of Judah, 
needing special control. With this weakness there came attacks from 
without. The king, prematurely old, must have seen the rapid break- 
ing up of the great monarchy to which he had succeeded. 

Of the inner changes, of mind and heart, which ran parallel with 
this history, Scripture is comparatively silent. Something may be 
learned from the books that bear his name. They represent the three 
stages of his life. The Song of Songs brings before us the brightness 
of his youth. Then comes in the Book of Proverbs, the stage of 
practical, prudential thought The poet has become the philosopher, 
the mystic has passed into the moralist. But the man passed through 
both stages without being permanently the better for either. They 
were to him but phases of his life which he had known and ex- 
hausted. And therefore came, as in the Confessions of the Preacher, 
the great retribution. 

Solomon died at Jerusalem in the fortieth year of his reign, and 
was buried in the royal sepulchre in the city of David, Notwith- 



OLD TESTAMENT 



CHARACTERS. 



683 



standing his immense harem, we only read of his having one son, his 
successor, Rehoboam, the son of Naamah, a princess of Ammon. 

Around the history of Solomon there gathers a whole world of 
fantastic fables — Jewish, Christian, and Mahometan. According to 
these, he left behind him spells and charms, to cure diseases and cast 
out evil spirits. His wisdom enabled him to interpret the speech of 
beasts and birds. He knew the secret virtues of gems and herbs. 
Arabic imagination took a yet wilder flight. After a strong struggle 
with the rebellious Afreets and Jinns, Solomon conquered them, and 
cast them into the sea. To him belonged the magic ring, which re- 
vealed to him the past, the present, and the future. 



ELIJAH. 

Elijah the Tishbite has been well entitled "the grandest and 
most romantic character that Israel ever produced." Certainly there 
is no personage in the Old Testament whose career is more vividly 
portrayed, or who exercises on us a more remarkable fascination. 
His rare, sudden, and brief appearances — his undaunted courage and 
fiery zeal — the brilliancy of his triumphs — the pathos of his despon- 
dency — the glory of his departure, and the calm beauty of his re- 
appearance on the Mount of Transfiguration — throw such a halo of 
brightness around him as is equalled by none of his compeers in the 
sacred story. The ignorance in which we are left of the circum- 
stances and antecedents of the man who did and who suffered so much, 
doubtless contributes to enhance our interest in the story and the 
character. " Elijah the Tishbite of the inhabitants of Gilead," is 
literally all that is given us to know of his parentage and locality. 
To an Israelite of the tribes west of Jordan the title " Gileadite n 
must have conveyed a similar impression, though in a far stronger 
degree, to that which the title "Celt" does to us. What the High- 
lands were a century ago to the towns in the Lowlands of Scotland, 
that, and more than that, must Gilead have been to Samaria or Jeru- 
salem. One of the most famous heroes in the early annals of Israel was 
"Jephthah the Gileadite," in whom all these characteristics were 
prominent ; and Professor Stanley has well remarked how impossible 
\% is rightly to estimate bis character without recollecting this fact. 



684 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



With Elijah, of whom so much is told, and whose part in the history 
was so much more important, this is still more necessary. It is seen 
at every turn. Of his appearance, as he " stood before " Ahab, w T ith 
the suddenness of motion to this day characteristic of the Bedouins 
from his native hills, w T e can, perhaps, realize something from the 
touches, few, but strong, of the narrative. Of his height little is to 
be inferred ; that little is in favor of its being beyond the ordinary 
tsize. His chief characteristic was his hair, long and thick, and hang- 
ing down his back ; which, if not betokening the immense strength 
of Samson, yet accompanied powers of endurance no less remarkable. 
His ordinary clothing consisted of a girdle of skin round his loins, 

w r hich he tightened when 
about to move quickly. 
But, in addition to this, 
he occasionally wore the 
" mantle/' or cape of 
sheep-skin, w r hich has sup- 
plied us with one of our 
most familiar figures of 
speech. In this mantle, 
in moments of emotion, 
he would hide his face, or, 
when excited, would roll 
it up as into a kind of 
stafi'. On one occasion we 
find him bending himself 
down upon the ground 
with his face between his knees. The solitary life in which these exter- 
nal peculiarities had been assumed had also nurtured that fierceness of 
zeal and that directness of address which so distinguished him. It was 
in the wild loneliness of the hills and ravines of Gilead that the knowl- 
edge of Jehovah, the living God of Israel, had been impressed on his 
mind, which was to form the subject of his mission to the idolatrous 
court and country of Israel. 

The northern kingdom had at this time forsaken almost entirely 
the faith in Jehovah. The worship of the calves had been a depart- 
ure from Him ; it was a violation of His command against material 
resemblances ; but still it would appear that even in the presence of 
the calves Jehovah was acknowledged, and they w r ere at any rate a 
national institution, not one imported from the idolatries of any of the 




ELIJAH FED BY RAVENS. 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



685 



surrounding countries. But the case was quite different when Ahau 
introduced the foreign religion of his wife's family, the worship of 
the Phoenician Baal. It is as a witness against these two evils that 
Elijah comes forward. 

What we may call the first Act in his life embraces between three 
and four years — three years and six months for the duration of the 
drought, according to the statements of the New Testament, and three 
or four months more for the journey to Horeb, and the return to 
Gilead. His introduction is of the most startling description : he 
suddenly appears before Ahab, as, with the unrestrained freedom of 
Eastern manners, he would have no difficulty in doing, and proclaims 
the vengeance of Jehovah for the apostasy of the king. What imme- 
diate action followed on this we are not told; but it is plain that Elijah 
had to fly before some threatened vengeance either of the king, or 
more probably of the queen. Perhaps it was at this juncture that 
Jezebel "cut off the prophets of Jehovah." He was directed to the 
brook Cherith. There, in the hollow of the torrent-bed, he remained, 
supported in the miraculous manner with which we are all familiar, 
till the failing of the brook obliged him to forsake it. His next refuge 
was at Zarephath, a Phoenician town lying between Tyre and Sidon, 
certainly the last place at which the enemy of Baal would be looked 
for. The widow woman in whose house he lived seems, however, to 
have been an Israelite, and no Baal worshipper, if we may take her 
adjuration by " Jehovah thy God " as an indication. Here Elijah 
performed the miracles of increasing the oil and the meal, and re- 
stored the son of the widow to life after his apparent death. In this, 
or some other retreat, an interval of more than two years must have 
elapsed. 

The drought continued, and at last the full horrors of famine, 
caused by the failure of the crops, descended on Samaria. The king 
and his chief domestic officer divided between them the mournful 
duty of ascertaining that neither round the springs, which are so fre- 
quent a feature in Central Palestine, nor in the nooks and crannies of 
the most shaded torrent-beds, was there any of the herbage left, 
which in those countries is so certain an indication of the presence of 
moisture. It is the moment for the re-appearance of the prophet. 
He shows himself first to the minister. There, suddenly planted in 
his path, is the man whom he and his master have been seeking for 
more than three years. Before the sudden apparition of that wild 
figure, and that stern^ unbroken countenance, Obadiah could not but 



686 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 




EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS OF THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH. 



fall on his face. Elijah however, soon calms his agitation — "As Je- 
hovah of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely show my- 
self to Ahab ; " and thus relieved of his fear, that, as on a former 
occasion, Elijah would disappear before he could return with the 
king, Obadiah departs to inform Ahab that the man they seek is 
there. Ahab arrived, Elijah makes his charge — " Thou hast forsaken 
Jehovah and followed the Baals." He then commands that all Israel 
be collected to Mount Carmel with the four hundred and fifty 
prophets of Baal, and the four hundred of Asherah (Ashtaroth), the 
latter being under the especial protection of the queen. There are 
few more sublime stories in history than this. On the one hand, the 
solitary servant of Jehovah, acompanied by his one attendant, with 
his wild, shaggy hair, his scanty garb and sheep-skin cloak, but with 
calm dignity of demeanor and the minutest regularity of procedure, 
repairing the ruined altar of Jehovah with twelve stones — on the 
other hand, the eight hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and Ashta- 
roth, doubtless in all the splendor of their vestments, with the wild 
din of their vain repetitions and the maddened fury of their disap- 
pointed hopes, and the silent people surrounding all. The conclusion 
of the long day need only be glanced at. The fire of Jehovah con- 
suming both sacrifice and altar — the prophets of Baal killed, it would 
seem by Elijah's own hand — the king, with an apathy almost unin- 
telligible, eating and drinking in the very midst of the carnage of hi* 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS 



681 



own adherents — the rising storm — the ride across the plain to Jezreel, 
a distance of at least sixteen miles ; the prophet, with true Arab en- 
durance, running before the chariot, but also with true Arab instinct, 
stopping short of the city, and going no further than the " entrance of 
Jezreel." 

So far the triumph had been complete ; but the spirit of Jezebel 
was not to be so easily overcome, and her first act is a vow of ven- 
geance against the author of this destruction. Elijah takes refuge in 
flight. The danger was great and the refuge must be distant. The 
first stage on the journey was Beersheba. Here Elijah halted. His 
servant he left in the town ; while he himself set out alone into the 
wilderness. His spirit is quite broken, and he wanders forth over the 
dreary sweeps of those rocky hills, wishing for death. But God, who 
had brought His servant into this difficulty, provided him with the 
means of escaping from it. The prophet was wakened from his 
dream of despondency beneath the solitary bush of the wilderness, 
was fed with the bread and the water which to this day are all a Bed- 
ouin's requirements, and went forward, in the strength of that food, 
a journey of forty clays to the mount of God, even to Horeb. Here, 
in the cave, one of the numerous caverns in those awful mountains, 
he remained for certainly one night. In the morning came the " word 
of Jehovah " — the question, " What doest thou here, Elijah ? " In 
answer to this invitation the prophet opens his griefs. The reply 
comes in that ambiguous and indirect form in which it seems neces- 
sary that the deepest communications with the human mind should be 
couched, to be effectual . He is directed to leave the cavern and 
stand on the mountain in the open air, face to face with Jehovah. 
Then, as before with Moses, " the Lord passed by " — passed in all the 
terror of His most appalling manifestations ; and penetrating the 
dead silence which followed these, came the mysterious symbol — the 
" still small voice ; " and, still as it was, it spoke in louder accents to 
the wounded heart of Elijah than the roar and blaze which had pre- 
ceded it. To him no less unmistakably than to Moses, centuries before 
it was proclaimed that Jehovah was " merciful and gracious, long- 
suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth." Elijah knew the 
call, and at once stepping forward, and hiding his face in his mantle, 
stood waiting for the Divine communication. Three commands were 
laid on him — three changes were to be made. Of these three com- 
mands, the first two were reserved for Elisha to accomplish ; the last 
♦nly was executed by Elijah himself. His first search was for Elisha, 



688 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



Apparently he soon found him ; we must conclude at his native place, 
Abel-meholah. Elisha was ploughing at the time, and Elijah "passed 
over to him " — possibly crossed the river — and cast his mantle, the 
well-known sheep-skin cloak, upon him, as if, by that familiar action, 
claiming him for his son. A moment of hesitation, and then com- 
menced that long period of service and intercourse which continued 
till Elijah's removal, and which after that time procured for Elisha 
one of the best titles to esteem and reverence — " Elisha the son of 
Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah." 

Ahab and Jezebel now probably believed that their threats had 
been effectual, and that they had seen the last of their tormentor. 
After the murder of Naboth, Ahab loses no time in entering on his 
new acquisition. But his triumph was a short one. Elijah had re- 
ceived an intimation from Jehovah of what was taking place, and 
rapidly as the accusation and death of Naboth had been hurried over, 
he was there to meet his ancient enemy on the very scene of his 
crime. And then follows the curse, in terms fearful to any Oriental 
— peculiarly terrible to a Jew — and most of all significant to a suc- 
cessor of the apostate princes of the northern kingdom. 

A space of three or four years now elapses before we again catch 
a glimpse of Elijah. Ahaziah has met with a fatal accident, and is 
on his death-bed. In his extremity he sends to an oracle, or shrine 
of Baal, at the Philistine town of Ekron, to ascertain the issue of 
his illness. But the oracle is nearer at hand than the distant Ekron. 
An intimation is conveyed to the prophet, probably at that time in- 
habiting one of the recesses of Carmel ; and, as on the former occa- 
sions, he suddenly appears on the path of the messengers, without 
preface or inquiry utters his message of death, and as rapidly disap- 
pears. But this check only roused the wrath of Ahaziah. A captain 
was dispatched, with a party of fifty, to take Elijah prisoner. " And 
there came down fire from heaven and consumed him and his fifty." 
A second party was sent, only to meet the same fate. The altered 
tone of the leader of a third party, brought Elijah down. But the 
king gained nothing. The message was delivered to his face, in the 
same words as it had been to the messengers, and Elijah was allowed 
to go harmless. 

It must have been shortly after the death of Ahaziah, that Elijah 
made a communication with the southern kingdom. When Jehoram, 
the son of Jehoshaphat, began to " walk in the ways of the kings of 
Israel," Elijah sent him a letter denouncing his evil doings, and pre- 



ELIJAHS SACRIFICE. 



m OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



dieting his death. In its contents the letter bears a strong resemblance 
to the speeches of Elijah, while in the details of its style it is very 
peculiar, and quite different from the narrative in which it is im- 
bedded. a 

The closing transaction of Elijah's life introduces us to a locality 
heretofore unconnected with him. It was at Gilgal, probably on the 
western edge of the hills of Ephraim, that the prophet received the 
divine intimation that his departure was at hand. He was at the 
time with Elisha, who seems now to have become his constant com- 
panion, and whom he endeavors to persuade to remain behind while 
he goes on an errand of Jehovah. But Elisha will not so easily give 
up his master. They went together to Bethel. Again Elijah attempts 
to escape to Jericho, and again Elisha protests that he will not be 
separated from him. At Jericho he makes a final effort to avoid 
what they both so much dread. But Elisha is not to be conquered, 
and the two set off across the undulating plain of burning sand to 
the distant river — Elijah in his mantle or cape of sheep-skin, Elisha in 
ordinary clothes. Fifty men of the sons of the prophets ascend the 
abrupt heights behind the town to watch what happens in the dis- 
tance. Talking as they go, the two reach the river, and stand on the 
shelving bank beside its swift brown current. But they are not to 
stop even here. It is as if the aged Gileadite cannot rest till he again 
sets foot on his own side of the river. He rolls up his mantle a? 
into a staff, and with his old energy strikes the waters — strikes then 
as if they were an enemy • and they are divided hither and thither 
and they two go over on dry ground. " And it came to pass, as the) 
still weiit on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of 
fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah 
went up by a whirlwind into heaven." 

Here ends all the direct information which is vouchsafed to us of 
the life and work of this great Prophet. How deep was the impres- 
sion which he made on the mind of the nation, may be judged of 
from the fixed belief which many centuries after prevailed, that Elijah 
would again appear for the relief and restoration of his country. 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 691 



DANIEL. 

In the year 605, B. C, in the third year of Jehoiakim, Nebuchad- 
nezzar, king of Babylon, took the city of Jerusalem, after a fierce 
siege ; but left a king on the throne, as his vassal. He commissioned 
Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to select the most comely 
Hebrew youths of royal and noble birth, possessed of natural grace 
and acquired learning, to be educated in the language and wisdom of 
the Chaldseans. They were to receive their food and wine from the 
king's table, and after three years' training they were to be brought 
before him. Among them were four belonging to the tribe of Judah, 
whose names were Daniel, Hananiah, Michael, and Azariah ; which, 
according to Oriental custom, were changed by the prince of the 
eunuchs into Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshac, and Abednego. In 
sacred history, however, Daniel has retained his own name, while the 
other three are mentioned by their Babylonish appellations. Daniel 
resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food and 
wine, things that had been offered to idols ; and, through the tender 
regard with which he had inspired the prince of the eunuchs, he ob- 
tained the favor of an experiment on himself and his three friends. 
After being fed with pulse and water for ten days, they were found in 
better condition than their comrades who had been nourished on the 
king's dainties ; so this diet was continued to the end. Meanwhile, 
God endowed them with all knowledge and wisdom, and to Daniel in 
particular, he granted the same insight into dreams and visions which 
had distinguished Joseph. When the time came for them to appear 
before the king, he found them the fairest of all their fellow captives, 
and ten times better in wisdom and discernment than all the magicians 
and astrologers of Chaldsea. So they stood before him among the 
courtiers. 

The great opportunity for the use of Daniel's power as an interpreter 
of dreams for the glory of God, occurred in a manner very similar to 
the case of Joseph. Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream which troubled 
him so much that he awoke from his sleep. All recollection of the 
vision instantly vanished, and the king, anxious to recall it, sum- 
moned all the Magi or soothsayers, and commanded them to tell him 
what he had dreamed and to explain the vision. This being a simple 
impossibility, the wise men answered that they were unable to comply 
with his demand, whereupon the king gave orders for the execution 



692 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



of all the soothsayers and their families. In this sweeping decree 
Daniel and the Hebrew men of learning were involved, and Daniel 
obtained from the king a respite, which he and his companions spent 
in prayer; and he received the revelation with one of those grand 
utterances of praise and prayer that form the great charm of his 
book. The vision, which he was inspired to expound to Nebuchad- 
nezzar, is one of the several by which, at this epoch, when the great 
monarchies of Asia were about to come into collision with the powers 
of the West, God revealed the steps by which the successive empires 
were to give way before His kingdom. 




DANIEL IN THE LION'S DEN. 



Nebuchadnezzar was overwhelmed with astonishment at the accu- 
racy of Daniel's interpretation, but the confession which it drew from 
him is scarcely the language of a convert to the true religion. 
According to his promise, he loaded Daniel with rewards, made him 
ruler over the province of Babylon, and master of the Chaldsean sages 
or Magi. 

Daniel and his friends had their fidelity to Jehovah subjected to a 
terrible test, when Nebuchadnezzar set up his golden image, and com- 
manded all persons to worship it on pain of being cast into a fiery 
furnace. No attempt was made upon Daniel, who seems to have been 
too firmly established in the royal favor for his enemies to venture to 
attack him till they had first made an example of his companions. 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS 



693 



Accordingly, they informed the king that Shadrach, Meshac and 
Abednego, had refused to bow down to the golden image. The king 
summoned ther three Hebrews, and gave them an opportunity of com- 
plying with his demand, but upon their firm refusal to acknowledge 
any God but Jehovah, or to bow down and worship the image, he 
commanded them to be cast into the furnace, which was done. The 
flames were so fierce that they slew the men charged with the execu- 
tion of the king's decree, but the Hebrews were unscathed in the 
midst of the flames. There Nebuchadnezzar beheld them, and also a 
fourth figure with them, " and the form of the fourth was like the 
Son of God." Overwhelmed with amazement, the king called to the 
three Hebrews to come forth from the furnace, and they came out and 
stood before him without having even " the smell of fire " about them. 
This miraculous deliverance extorted from the monarch a still warmer 
acknowledgment of the God of the Hebrews. Their enemies were 
silenced by a terrible decree, and they themselves were promoted to 
higher stations in the province of Babylon. 

Another dream, which Daniel again interpreted when the Chaldsean 
soothsayers had failed, warned the king that his reason should depart, 
and he should be driven from among men, to herd with the beasts 
of the field, till " seven times " had passed over his head. The judg- 
ment came upon him at the expiration of a year. His enemies had 
been subdued on every side ; his great works of art and power had 
been completed ; and, as he surveyed them from the roof of his palace, 
he forgot God, of whose might he had had such proofs, and exclaimed, 
" Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the 
kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honor of my ma- 
jesty ?" The words had scarcely mounted toward the vault of heaven, 
when a voice replied, " O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken ; 
The kingdom is departed from thee;" adding the details of his exile 
from among men, all of which were fulfilled for a space of seven 
years. 

After the close of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel was deposed 
from his high offices. His next appearance is at the great banquet 
given by Belshazzar at the close of his reign. The city was besieged 
by Cyrus, the king of Media and Persia, but as it was believed to be 
too strong to be taken, the Babylonians gave themselves little or no 
concern about their enemies. 

Cyrus wasted no efforts on the impregnable defences, but resolved 
to divert the stream of the Euphrates, and to enter the city by its 



694 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



bed. When the work was complete, Belshazzar gave him the oppor- 
tunity for a surprise by that great feast, of which we have so graphic 
an account in the book of Daniel. A thousand of his .lords were as- 
sembled at the banquet; and the prince, inflamed with wine and 
flattery, ordered the gold and silver vessels of the Temple of the 
Jews to be brought, that he, and his wives, and concubines, and 
courtiers, might drink in them to the praise of their gods. At that 
moment a hand was seen writing upon the wall, in the full light of 
the candelabra. Belshazzar, his joints unnerved by fear, cried out for 
che Chaldsean astrologers and soothsayers to be brought before him, 
and proclaimed that the man who could read the writing should be 
iuvested with the insignia of royalty, and made the third ruler in the 
kingdom. While the hand moved slowly on, from letter to letter, 
they confessed their inability to read the unknown characters. The 
king was beside himself with terror when a new person appeared on 
the scene. The "queen," who addresses Belshazzar in a tone of au- 
thority, was probably his mother, or his grandmother, and may, 
perhaps, be the Nitocris of Herodotus. She alone of all the court 
remembered the wonders that had been revealed to Nebuchadnezzar 
by Daniel, who seems to have been deposed from his post of master 
of the soothsayers. By her advice the king sent for him, and repeated 
his offers of reward. Rejecting them with disdain, Daniel reproached 
Belshazzar for not learning from the example of Nebuchadnezzar, 
and for the crowning insult of that night against God. Then he ex- 
plained to the trembling monarch the awful message of Jehovah, 
which informed him that 

" The days of thy kingdom are numbered and finished, 
" Thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting : 
" Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." 
Belshazzar's last act of sovereignty was to confer the promised re- 
ward on Daniel. That night Cyrus took the city by surprise. Bel- 
shazzar was slain, and his kingdom passed into the hands of the 
conqueror. 

Daniel found favor with the conqueror, and shortly after the cap- 
ture of Babylon we find him employed by the king in some commission 
to Susa (Shushan), one of the Median capitals. He appears to have 
attained the fullest confidence of "Darius, the Mede." "When 
this monarch was making new appointments of the governors of 
provinces, the prophet was set over them all : and the king contem- 
plated a still further elevation for him. This excited the dislike and 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



695 



jealousy of the native princes and presidents, who determined to 
work his ruin. In his administration, his hands were so pure, that 
no ground of accusation could be found against him. They therefore 
devised a plan by which Daniel's known and tried fidelity to his re- 
ligion should work his destruction. They procured from the careless 
and vain king a decree, that no one should for thirty days offer any 
prayer or petition to any god or man save the king himself, under 
pain of being cast into the lion's den. The king at once became 
painfully conscious of his weak and criminal conduct, when his most 
trusted servant, Daniel, was accused before him as an open trans- 
gressor of this decree, and his punishment demanded. Among the 
Medes and Persians there was a singular restraint upon despotism — 
which, while at the first view it seemed to give intensity to the exer- 
cise of despotic power, really tended to deter the kings from hasty 
and ill-considered decisions, by compelling them to feel the evil con- 
sequences with which they were attended. The king's word was 
irrevocable law. He could not himself dispense with the conse- 
quences of his own acts. Of this Darius was reminded ; and he saw 
at once that he was precluded from interfering in behalf of his friend. 
It is a beautiful illustration of the great truth, which appears as the 
main argument of this chapter, namely, that the glory of God was 
promoted among the heathen by the captivity of his people — that the 
king himself was already so well acquainted with the character and 
power of Jehovah, that he spontaneously rested himself upon the 
hope, that, although unable himself to deliver him from this well-laid 
snare, the God whom Daniel served would certainly not suffer him to 
perish. The prophet was cast into the lion's den, and the mouth 
thereof was closed with a sealed stone. The king spent the night 
sleepless and in sorrow. Impelled by his vague hopes, he hastened 
early in the morning to the cavern, and cried in a doleful voice, i O 
Daniel, servant 'of The Living God, is thy God, whom thou servest 
continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?' To the unutterable 
joy and astonishment of the king, the quiet voice of Daniel returned 
an affirmative answer, assuring the king of his perfect safety. In- 
stantly the cavern was opened, the servant of God drawn forth, and 
his accusers were cast in, and immediately destroyed by the savage 
inmates of the den. This striking interposition induced the king to 
issue a proclamation, to the same ultimate effect as that which Nebu- 
chadnezzar had issued in a former time. He wrote unto ' all peoples, 
nations, and languages, that dwelt in all the earth/ charging them to 



696 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS 



' tremble and fear before the God of Daniel ; for he is The Livtjsu 
God, and steadfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be 
destroyed, and his dominion shall be, even unto the end/ It would 
not be easy to overrate the importance of the diffusion of such 
truths as these through the length and breadth of the Median 
empire. 

" Daniel prophesied during the whole period of the captivity, but 
lie probably did not long survive his last vision concerning the suc- 
cession of the kings of Persia, which he beheld in the third year of 
Cyrus, A. M., 3470, when the prophet must have reached his ninetieth 
year. As Daniel dates this vision by a Persian era, it was apparently 
revealed to him in Persia ; and though some have asserted that he re- 
turned from the captivity with Ezra, and took upon him the govern- 
ment of Syria, it is probable that he was too old to avail himself of 
the decree of Cyrus, however he might have been accessory in obtain- 
ing it ; and that, agreeably to the received opinion, he died in Persia. 
Some affirm that he died in Babylon ; and they say that his sepulchre 
was there to be seen many years after in the royal cave. But it is 
more probable, according to the common tradition, that he was buried 
at Susa, or Shushan, Avhere certainly he sometimes resided, and per- 
haps as governor of Persia, and where he was favored with some of 
his last visions. Benjamin Tudela, indeed, informs us that he was 
shown the reputed tomb of Daniel on the Tigris, where likewise, as 
we are assured by Josephus, was a magnificent edifice, in the form of 
a tower, which is said to have been built by Daniel, and which served 
as a sepulchre for the Persian and Parthian kings. This, in the time 
of the historian, retained its perfect beauty, and presented a fine 
specimen of the prophet's skill in architecture. The book of Daniel 
contains a very interesting mixture of history and prophecies; the 
former being introduced, as far as was necessary, to describe the con- 
duct of the prophet, and to show the design and occasion of his pre- 
dictions. The first six chapters are chiefly historical, though, indeed, 
the second chapter contains the prophetic interpretation of Nebu- 
chadnezzar's dream concerning the kingdoms which w r ere successively 
to illustrate the power of that God who removeth and setteth up 
kings, as seemeth good to him." 



LIVES OF THE EARLY FATHERS, 

AND 

OTHER EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 



IGNATIUS. 

One of the most eminent of the early Christians was Ignatius, 
Bishop of Antioch in Syria. He was set apart to that high office in 
A. D., 75, and presided over the church for about 32 years, and 
finally suffered martyrdom under the Emperor Trajan in A. D., 107. 
When the reader remembers that the church at Antioch was the pa- 
rent of all the Gentile churches, he will appreciate the importance of 
the position held by this good man, who was surnamed Theophorus, 
for his great p;2ty. His "Acts" and "Epistles/' which were pub- 
lished in 1647 by Arch-bishop Usher, afford us an opportunity of 
learning much of his history, as well as the spirit which actuated him. 
His "Acts " were written by those who had been his companions, and 
who were eye-witnesses of his martyrdom. These declare him to have 
been "a man in all things like to the apostles : as a good governor, by 
the helm of prayer and fasting, by the constancy of his doctrine and 
spiritual labor, he oppose 1 himself to the floods of the adversary: he 
was like a Divine lamp, illuminating the learts of the faithful by his 
exposition of the Holy Scriptures ; and lastly, to preserve his church, 
he scrupled not to expose himself to a bitter death." Like St. John, 
his chief care was to teach the churches to love one another, and to be 
united in all things. While urging them to strive ardently to pre- 
serve their faith pure, and to reject heresies, he says to the Chris- 
tians : 

" Yet pray earnestly for other men without ceasing : for there is 
hope of conversion in them, that they also may be brought to God. 

697 



698 LIVES OF THE EARLY FATHERS 



Give them an opportunity to be instructed, at least by your works. 
Without Christ thinking nothing : — in him I carry about my bonds — 
spiritual jewels ; in whom may I be found in the resurrection. Re- 
member me, as Jesus Christ also does you." 

The Emperor Trajan treated the Christians with a strange mixture 
of leniency and cruelty. He commanded that all private accusations 
and anonymous 'letters against them should be rejected, and no notice 
taken of them ; but that all persons publicly accused and convicted 
of being Christians, should be put to death, unless they should con- 
sent to deny their faith in public. 

In the year 115, this Emperor passed through Antioch, on his way 
to conduct the operations of his army against the Parthians. It had 
always been the desire of Ignatius to suffer martyrdom for the sake 
of his Redeemer, and now, fearing that the cruelty of the Emperor 
would be directed against the church at Antioch, he resolved to avert 
it by voluntarily offering himself as a victim. He, therefore, went 
boldly into the Emperor's presence. His conference with Trajan is 
thus recorded in the "Acts :" 

Being come into the emperor's presence, he was thus addressed : 
" What an impious wretch art thou, both to transgress our commands 
and to inveigle other souls into the same folly, to their ruin ?" 

Ignatius answered, " Theophorous ought not to be called so ; for 
wicked spirits are departed from the servants of God. But if you call 
me impious because of my hostility, I own the charge in that respect. 
For I dissolve all their snares, sustained inwardly by Christ, the 
Heavenly King." 

" Pray, who is Theophorus ?" said Trajan. " He who has Christ 
in his breast," was the reply. "And thinkest thou not that gods re- 
side in us also, who fight for us against our enemies ?" " You mis- 
take in calling the demons of the nations by the name of gods. For 
there is only one God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all 
that in them is; and one Jesus Christ, his only-begotten Son, whose 
kingdom be my portion." 

" His kingdom, do you say, who was crucified under Pilate ?" 
" His who crucified my sin with its author, and has put all the fraud 
and malice of Satan under their feet, who carry him in their heart." 
" Dost thou then carry him who was crucified within thee ?" " I do; 
for it is written, ' I will dwell in them, and walk in them.' " Then 
Trajan pronounced this sentence against him: "Since Ignatius con- 
fesses that he carries within himself that was crucified, we command 



AND OTHER EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 



699 



that he be carried bound by soldiers to great Rome, there to be thrown 
to the beasts for the entertainment of the people." 

From Antioch the good bishop was taken to Smyrna, and thence to 
Rome. On his way, he wrote two of the three genuine Epistles which 
bear his name, and at Smyrna he had an interview with Polycarp, the 
young bishop of the church at that place, He reached Rome in time 
for the great public spectacles in the amphitheatre, and was thrown to 
the wild beasts in the arena, and devoured by them. Only a few of 
his bones were left, and these were collected by the companions who 
had accompanied him, and were carried back to Antioch, where they 
were buried. 



POLYCARP. 

This holy man was the Bishop of the church at Smyrna foi 1 more 
than seventy years. He is believed to have been a disciple of St. 
John, and the person mentioned in the Revelation as the "Angel" of 
the church at Smyrna. He was the friend of Ignatius, who addressed 
one of his three Epistles to him, and one of his own Epistles to the 
Philippians is still extant. He is said to have been eminent for his 
piety and zeal, as well as for his personal amiability, to which estimate 
of his character even the pagans bore witness. 

He paid a visit to Rome about the year 150, to Anicetas, Bishop of 
Rome, to settle a troublesome controversy about the proper observance 
of Easter. The point in dispute was purely traditional, and no 
agreement was affected. While here he did not hesitate to denounce 
those who had departed from the true Apostolic doctrine. 

At length, in the reign of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the 
Smyrniote church was subjected to great persecutions. Polycarp was 
willing to remain in the city, and share the fate of his friends ; but 
the latter at length persuaded him to retire into the country, whither 
his persecutors followed and arrested him. He had been forewarned 
of this fate in a dream, and received the officers of the law with great 
kindness and dignity. He set before them a bountiful supply of 
refreshments, and while they were eating, devoted himself to fervent 
prayer. 

The soldiers took him before the Pro-consul, who, having persuaded 
one Quintus to save his life by denying his Saviour, thought he could 



TOO LIVES OF THE EARLY FATHERS 



work upon the fears of Polycarp in a similar manner. But the good 
man was now about one hundred years old, and ready to depart, and 
steadfastly resisted the importunities of the magistrate. 

" Swear by the fortune of Caesar/' said the Pro-consul, " swear, and 
I will release thee ; reproach Christ." 

" Eighty and six years have I served him," said Polycarp, " and he 
never wronged me ; and how can I blaspheme my King, who hath 
saved me ? I am a Christian, and if you desire to learn the Christian 
doctrine, assign me a day, and hear." 

" I have wild beasts," said the Pro-consul, " and I will expose you 
to them unless you repent," 

" Call them," was the calm reply. " Our minds are not to be 
changed from the better to the worse ; but it is a good thing to be 
changed from evil to good." 

" I will tame your spirit by fire unless you repent," said the Pro- 
consul. 

" You threaten me with fire, which burns for a moment," said the 
martyr; " but you are ignorant of the future judgment, and of the fire 
of the eternal punishment reserved for the ungodly. But why do you 
delay ? Do what you please." 

The Pro-consul was sorely perplexed. It was the wish of the popu- 
lace that Polycarp should be given to the lions ; but as the lawful 
time for opening the amphitheatre had gone by, this could not be 
done, and he was sentenced to die at the stake. When they sought to 
bind him to the stake, he said, " Let me remain as I am ; for he who- 
gives me strength to sustain the fire, will enable me to remain un- 
moved." Then placing his hands behind him, he lifted up his voice 
in prayer, and thanked God for having given him the privilege of 
sealing the faith with his life. Then the faggots were lighted ; but 
the wind blew the flames away so steadily, that in spite of the efforts 
of his tormentors, he remained uninjured. Upon this the executioner 
slew him with his sword. His friends begged his body ; but the 
Jews opposed the request, falsely asserting that the Christians would 
worship him instead of Christ, There being danger of a tumult, the 
centurion in charge of the execution burned the body, after which the 
charred bones were gathered up by the disciples of the martyr and 
buried. 



AND OTHER EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 



701 



ORIGEN. 

Origen, who was surnamed Adaruantius, on account of the 
strength of his constitution and, the magnitude of his labors, was 
born in Alexandria, in Egypt, in the year 185. His father was a 
man of wealth and education, and, finding that his son was a youth 
of unusual talent, had him thoroughly educated in the best schools of 
the city. Leonides, the father, was also a devoted Christian, and 
exerted himself to instruct his son in the knowledge of Christ. "He 
made him commit daily a portion of Sacred Scripture to memory. 
The boy took great delight in his task, and already gave indications 
of his profoundly inquisitive mind. Not satisfied with the explana- 
tion of the literal sense, which his father gave him, he required the 
thoughts embodied in the passages he had committed to be fully 
opened out, so that Leonides frequently found himself embarrassed. 
The father chided, indeed, his inconsiderate curiosity, and exhorted 
him to be satisfied as became his years, with the literal sense ; but he 
secretly rejoiced in the promising talents of the youth, and with a full 
heart thanked God he had given him such a son. Often, it is said, 
when the boy was asleep, he would uncover his breast, kissing it as a 
temple where the Holy Spirit designed to prepare his dwelling, and 
congratulated himself that he possessed such a treasure." 

Besides the instruction he received from his father, he was a pupil 
of Clement, the Catechist. 

The Christians of Egypt were severely persecuted during the reign 
of Severus, A. D., 202. Leonides was thrown into prison with others. 
Origen, young as he was, was ready to become a martyr, and boldly 
hazarded his life by visiting his father in prison. His mother, how- 
ever, anxious for his safety, at length kept him at home by hiding his 
clothes. Unable to see his father, he wrote to him, exhorting him 
not to let the thought of his family make him recreant to the cause 
of Christ. The father kept the faith, and suffered death, leaving his 
widow and six children helpless. Origen was now seventeen, and 
was enabled to prosecute his studies still farther through the kindness 
of a rich Christian lady, who received him into her house. 

Encouraged by Demetrius, the bishop and others, Origen upon 
reaching the age of nineteen, revived the Catechetical School of 
Clement, which had been broken up by the persecution, and was ap- 
pointed Catechist. He sold his classical library for a mere pittance, 
on which he managed to live with great privation ; but this in his 



?02 LIVES OF THE EARLY FATHERS 



eyes was better than dependence. He was very successful in his 
school. Pupils, both Christians and Pagans, came in from all quar- 
ters. Many of the latter were converted by him, and several became 
martyrs. He tried to lead a blameless life, and to avoid temptation, 
even went so far as to emasculate himself. Although he tried to con- 
ceal this, his secret was discovered, and it is said that Demetrius on 
this account refused to ordain him. 

His zeal and activity in behalf of his religion made him many 
enemies, and his life was in constant danger. At one time he was 
seized and clothed in the dress of a priest of Serapis, and placed upon 
the steps of the temple, where he was ordered to distribute branches 
of palm in the usual way, to those who entered. He did as he was 
bidden, but said to those to whom he presented the branches, " Receive 
not the idol's palm, but the palm of Christ." 

" He now gave himself up to the study of the Bible and its literal 
interpretation, and there began the great change in the theological 
bent of his mind. It became his endeavor to trace the vestiges of 
truth in all human systems ; to examine all things, that he might 
everywhere separate the true from the false. 

" His residence in Alexandria, where sects so widely different were 
brought together; his journey to Rome (in the year 211); his jour- 
neys to and within Palestine, to Achaia, to Cappadocia, gave him op- 
portunity, as he tells us himself, of visiting those who pretended to 
any extraordinary knowledge, and of becoming acquainted with and 
examining their doctrines. He made it his principle not to suffer 
himself to be governed by the traditional opinion of the multitude, 
but to hold fast that only as truth which he found after unbiased ex- 
amination. 

"By this liberality of mind, it was the happiness of Origen to 
bring back many heretics, with whom he fell in contact at Alexandria, 
particularly Gnostics, to the simple doctrine of the gospel. One 
remarkable example of this sort was Ambrosius, a wealthy man, who, 
not satisfied with the manner in which Christianity had been exhibited 
to him, in the common representations of the church teachers, had 
sought, and supposed he had found, a more spiritual conception of it 
among the Gnostics ; until, through the influence of Origen, he was 
undeceived of his error, and rejoiced at now finding, through his 
means, the right Gnosis at the same time with the true faith. He 
became Origen's warmest friend, and endeavored especially to promote 
his literary labors for the good of the Church. 



AND OTHER EMINENT CHRISTIANS. ?03 



"That he might avail himself of every help, Origen studied He- 
brew, after he had arrived at the age of manhood — a task of some 
difficulty to a Greek. He undertook an emendation of the biblical 
manuscripts, by comparing them with one another. He is the creator 
of sacred literature among the Christians, although his arbitrary prin- 
ciples of interpretation prevented, in his own case, the full realization 
of all those results which might otherwise have been expected from it. 

"As the number of those who resorted to him for religious instruc- 
tion continued to increase, and at the same time his literary labors on 
the Scriptures, which extended over a widening field, claimed more of 
his attention; in order to gain time, he shared the task of catechist with 
his friend Heraclas, giving over to the latter the preparatory religious 
instruction, and reserving for himself the exacter instruction of the 
more advanced. 

fi The division of his official labors in this department made it possible 
for him to enlarge the sphere of his activity as a teacher of the church, 
in giving a course of lectures, in which he expounded to his pupils all 
the ancient philosophers in whom a moral and religious element was 
to be found, and sought to train them to that mental freedom which 
would enable them everywhere to separate truth from the mixture of 
falsehood. Thus he entitled himself to the great merit of diffusing a 
more liberal system of Christian and scientific education, of which the 
schools that resulted from his labors are the evidence. It was also 
his lot to conduct many, who had been drawn to him solely through 
the love of science, by gradual steps, to faith in the gospel. 

" Some opposed him in his work, but the efforts of his enemies 
only contributed to extend the sphere of his activity. He removed to 
Palestine, a circumstance important in its consequences, an opportunity 
being thus given him of laboring also from that point, for the diffu- 
sion of a liberal scientific spirit in the church ; and long were the 
traces of his activity to be discerned in these districts. Here, too, a 
circle of young men gathered around him, who were trained under his 
influence to fill the posts of theologians and church teachers. Here 
he composed, among other works, his treatise on the utility of prayer, 
and on the exposition of the Lord's prayer, which he addressed to his 
friend Ambrosius. 

"He maintained an active correspondence with the most distin- 
guished church teachers in Cappadocia, Palestine, and Arabia ; and 
he was often invited to assist at deliberations on the concerns of foreiga 
churches. 



104 



LIVES OF THE EARLY FATHERS 



" During the persecution of Maxiinim, the Thracian, in which two 
of his friends had much to suffer, he addressed to them his treatise on 
martyrdom, in which he exhorts them to steadfastness, and at the 
same time shows the energy of his unwavering trust and zeal in the 
gospel faith. 

"At length he was induced to flee to a place of safety, and accord- 
ingly repaired to Csesarea in Cappadocia ; but, on the breaking out of 
the persecution there, he retired to the house of Juliana, a Christian 
virgin, who concealed and entertained him in her dwelling during the 
space of two years. Here he made an important discovery, in an 
ancient translation, not before known to exist, of some books of the 
Old Testament, which enabled him to bring to a completion the great 
work of collecting the ancient versions extant, and comparing them 
with the Hebrew — a work in which he had long been engaged. After 
the assassination of Maximim, and under the reign of the Emperor 
Gordian, in the year 238, he was enabled to return once more to 
Csesarea, and resume there his earlier labors. 

" To the end of his life he was occupied with theological labors. 
When he was sixty years of age, he, for the first time, permitted his 
discourses to be taken down by short-hand writers. In what high 
consideration he stood with the churches of these countries, is evident 
from the fact, that on important ecclesiastical questions, where it was 
difficult to come to a decision, his opinion was consulted by synods of 
bishops. 

"As an instance of this kind, a controversy had been excited by a 
party among the Arabian Christians, who asserted that the human 
soul died with the body, and that it was to be revived only with the 
body at the resurrection — an ancient Jewish notion. The convention 
of a great synod came to be thought necessary for the purpose of 
settling these disputes. As they could not come to an agreement, Ori- 
gen was sent for; and it was brought about by his influence that the 
opponents of the soul's natural immortality confessed and renounced 
their error. 

" Origen, who, on account of some particular opinions, was, by a 
great part of the church, stigmatized as a heretic and enemy to the 
evangelical scheme of faith, is said, in the last days of a life conse- 
crated to labor and conflict in behalf of that which he considered to be 
the cause of Christ, to have refuted by his conduct the accusations of 
his adversaries, and shown how he was ready to sacrifice all for the 
faith — how he belonged to that number who are willing to hate even 
their own life for the Lord's sake. 



AND OTHER EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 105 



"As the fury of the enemies of Christianity, in the Decian persecu- 
tion, was directed particularly against those men who were distin- 
guished among the Christians for their station, wealth, or their 
knowledge, and their activity in promulgating the faith, it was 
natural that such a man as Origen should become a shining mark for 
fanatical cruelty. After a steadfast confession, he was thrown into 
prison ; and here it was attempted, in conformity with the plan of the 
Decian persecution, to overcome the infirmity of age, by exquisite and 
gradually increasing tortures. But the faith which he bore at heart 
sustained the weakness of old age, and gave him power to withstand 
every trial. After having suffered so much, he wrote from his prison 
a letter full of consolation and encouragement for others. 

" The circumstances which contributed first to moderate, and then 
to bring wholly to an end, this persecution, procured for Origen free- 
dom and repose. Yet the sufferings which he had undergone served, 
perhaps, to hasten his death, which took place about the year 254, in 
the seventieth year of his age." 



CYPRIAN. 

Cyprian of Carthage was one of the brightest lights of the early 
Christian Church. He was a professor of oratory in the city of 
Carthage, and a man of wealth and position. He was converted to 
Christ under the ministry of a presbyter named Cecilius, about the 
year 246, and at once embracing Christianity openly, assumed and 
held a prominent place in the church. Speaking of his conversion, 
he has said : 

" While I lay in darkness and the night of paganism, and when I 
fluctuated, uncertain and dubious with wandering steps in the sea of 
a tempestuous age, ignorant of my own life, alienated from light and 
truth, it appeared to me a harsh and difficult thing, as my manners 
then were, to obtain what Divine grace had promised, that a man 
should be born again ; and that, being animated with the love of re- 
generation by a new life, he should strip himself of what he was 
before, and though the body remained the same, he should in his 
mind become altogether a new creature. How can so great a change 
be possible, said I, that a man should suddenly and at once put off 
what nature and habit have confirmed in him ? 
45 



t06 LIVES OF THE EARLY FATHERS 



" But after the new birth had made me a new creature indeed, im- 
mediately and in an amazing manner dubious things began to be 
cleared up, things once shut up to be opened, dark things to shine 
forth ; what before seemed difficult, now appeared feasible, and that 
was now evidently practicable, which had been deemed impossible." 

He was unusually kind to the poor and needy, and literally 
stripped himself of his wealth for their benefit. His wife opposed his 
Christian spirit of liberality in vain. He gave all he had, and in 
this way, and many others, so endeared himself to the Christians of 
Carthage that he was made their bishop, in spite of his desire to avoid 
the honor. This was in the year 248. Five of the presbyters of 
the church voted against him, but they were overborne by the popular 
voice. 

In 249 the emperor Decius came to the throne, and began his ter- 
rible persecution of the Christians. Cyprian unwillingly retired from 
the fury of the Carthaginian pagans, to a place of safety, in which he 
remained for two and a half years. His brethren suffered greatly, 
but were much comforted by the letters of warning, counsel, and 
sympathy which he constantly sent them. 

A schism now broke out in the church of Carthage, headed by one 
Felicissumus, one of the presbyters who had voted against Cyprian. 
This division caused Cyprian much sorrow ; and, as the persecution 
had almost ceased, he returned to Carthage, and after a time suc- 
ceeded in healing the division. This schism gave rise to his cele- 
brated tract on " The Unity of the Church/' which contains the first 
acknowledgment of the supremacy of Rome as the chair of Saint 
Peter. 

Decius was succeeded by Gallus, who renewed the persecution of 
the Christians ; but his death, in 253, gave them a rest of several 
years. Cyprian was firmly convinced, from these persecutions, that 
the end of the world was close at hand. 

In 258 the persecutions were renewed by Valerian. Cyprian was 
arrested during this persecution, and brought before Paternus, the 
Pro-consul, who, after vainly endeavoring to make him reveal the 
hiding place of his brethren, banished him to Cnrubes, a town fifty 
miles from Carthage. 

In 260 he received permission tc return to Carthage and reside on 
one of his estates, which wa> restored to him. Here he regulated the 
affairs of the church, and distributed what he had left ; but, while 
thus employed, he was seized and conveyed before the Pro-consul, 



AND OTHER EMINENT CHRISTIANS. TOY 



who was indisposed at a town by the sea-side, called Sextus, six miles 
from Carthage. Here he was brought into the judgment hall, where 
the Pro-consul sat, and the following colloquy took place : 

"Are you Thascius Cyprian ?" 

" I am." 

"Are you he whom the Christians call their bishop?" 
" I am." 

" Our princes have ordered you to worship the gods." 
" That I shall not do." 

" You will do better to consult your safety, and not despise the 
gods." 

" My safety and virtue is Christ the Lord, whom I desire to serve 
forever." 

" I pity your case, and would wish to consult for you." 

" I do not wish that things should be otherwise with me, than 
that, adoring my God, I may hasten to him with all the ardor of my 
soul : for the afflictions of this persecution are not worthy to be com- 
pared with the glory that shall be revealed in us." 

" You have lived sacrilegiously a long time, and have formed into 
a society men of an impious conspiracy, and have shown yourselves 
an enemy to the gods and to the counsels of our princes. You have 
ever been a father and a ringleader to the impious sect ; you shall 
therefore be an example for the rest, and they shall learn their 
duty by your blood. Let Thascius Cyprian be put to death by the 
sword." 

" God be praised," said the martyr ; and while they were leading 
him away, a multitude of the people followed and cried, " Let us die 
with our holy bishop." 

He was led into a plain surrounded by trees, and fell upon his 
knees and offered up a prayer. He ordered a sum of money to be 
given to the executioner, and then himself bound the napkin over his 
eyes ; his hands were bound by a deacon and a presbyter, and the 
Christians laid before him napkins and handkerchiefs to receive his 
blood. Then his head was cut off by the executioner. 



EUSEBIUS. 



"With the exception of Origen, the most learned of all the early 
Fathers, was Eusebius Pamphilus, Bishop of Csesarea. Nothing is 



708 



LIVES OF THE EARLY FATHERS 



known of his parentage, education, or early life, but it is probable 
that Csesarea itself was the place of his birth, and that that event took 
place sometime before the year 270. He first appears in connection 
with his friend Pamphilus, in the joint production of works of great 
learning, the object of which was to spread the knowledge of and con- 
firm the faith of the Christians in their doctrine. 

Pamphilus had collected a library at Csesarea, which is said to have 
contained thirty thousand manuscript volumes. " It seems to have 
been collected chiefly for the good of the church, and to lend out to 
all religiously-disposed people." Pamphilus suffered martyrdom in 
the persecution under Diocletian, and Eusebius wrote an apology for 
him, in six books, and added his name to his own. How Eusebius 
escaped the fate of his friend during this fierce persecution is un- 
known. 

The succession of Constantine to the throne, enabled him to prose- 
cute his labors in public, and he at once became famous as the most 
learned man of his day. In 314 he was ordained Bishop of the 
church in Csesarea ; and in 324 he took a prominent part in the 
Council of Nice. He died about 340, at Csesarea, and was buried 
there. His Ecclesiastical History, Cleoraicon, Evangelical Prepara- 
tion, and Evangelical Demonstration, are all brought down to that 
period, though he survived Constantine, and wrote the life of this 
first Christian Emperor. Most of his other numerous works are lost, 
but these remain to attest his arduous labors and universal learning, 
consecrated, if not always wisely, yet honestly, to Christ and the 
highest good of mamkind. 



AUGUSTINE. 

Augustine was born in Tagasta, a town of Numidia, in Northern 
Africa, in the year 354. His parents were poor, but of respectable po- 
sition, and his mother was a true specimen of a Christian matron. She 
paid particular attention to his religious training, and at an early age 
put him among the catechumens to prepare him more thoroughly. 

He lost his father when he was sixteen years old, and his boyhood 
was spent in study and in dissipations. He conceived a thorough 
distaste for the study of the Greek literature, which he retained 



AND OTHER EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 709 



through life. He read the Heathen authors as well as the Sacred 
Scriptures. He became tainted with immorality also, and when only 
nineteen had a son by a mistress. 

He perplexed his intellect with vain studies, by which he hoped 
to find out the truth ; " but turning from the fountain of truth, he be- 
came associated with the Manichseans, who, among many other absurd 
theories, maintained that man had two souls, with opposite tendencies, 
and that particles of God were imprisoned in the fruits of the earth. 

" Meanwhile, a pious mother was earnestly seeking his conversion 
to the true faith. Meeting with a bishop, she entreated him to use 
his influence to turn Augustine from such absurd doctrines. But he 
replied to her solicitations by saying, ( Let him alone, only pray to 
the Lord for him ; he will at length, by reading, discover the error, 
and see how great his impiety.' At the same time, he told her how, 
when he was a child, he had been deceived in the same manner, and 
had not only read the books of the Manichsean sect, but copied almost 
all of them, and had himself found out, without any one's disputing 
with him, or convincing him, how much that faith was to be detested, 
and had therefore forsaken it. Not satisfied with this, she still im- 
portuned him, with tears, to attempt a reformation ; till, wearied with 
her continued entreaties, he impatiently answered, ' Go your way, 
God bless you, for it cannot be that a child of those tears should 
perish.' This, she afterward said, was to her as an oracle from 
heaven. 

" For the space of nine years, however, he continued his blind de- 
votion to the absurd system, following the emptiness of popular glory, 
and seeking in his false religion to perform meritorious works that 
should entitle him to particular eminence, and satisfy the desires of 
his restless spirit." 

At length, the death of a friend whom he tenderly loved, filled him 
with so much grief that he went to Carthage, where, becoming dis- 
gusted with the ignorance of one of the principal teachers of the 
Manichseans, and being offended with the ways of the scholars of 
Carthage, he removed to Rome, where he was sick of a dangerous 
fever, the recovery from which he attributed to his mother's prayers. 

He attempted to support himself in Rome by teaching eloquence, 
but failing in this, he went to Milan, where he was kindly received 
by Ambrose, the bishop of the Catholic church at that place, and was 
advised by him to study the Epistles of St. Paul. Through the dili- 
gent reading of these, and the preaching of Ambrose, he was led to 



710 LIVES OF THE EARLY FATHERS 



the truth at last, and became an avowed member of Christ's church, 
and one of its brightest ornaments^ 

After this he set out on his return to his native city in Numidia, 
but his mother died on the journey, at Ostia, happy that her constant 
prayers to God had been heard at last. Upon reaching his old home, 
he retired to an estate which he possessed, where, with a few friends, 
he lived in the practice of works of faith and love until 391. Here 
he composed several of his theological works. 

In 391 he went to the city of Hippo on business. While there 
the aged bishop Valerius induced him to become his assistant, and 
had him ordained. On the death of Valerius, he became bishop of 
Hippo, and resided there during the remainder of his life. He built 
a monastery there for men, and a convent for women. His sister be- 
came the Superior of the latter institution. 

In the year 429, the Vandals laid siege to Hippo. In the midst 
of these sufferings, and in the new prospect of dangers impending, it 
was Augustine's common prayer that God would deliver the town 
from the enemy ; or that he would grant his servants power to endure 
everything which his will should impose upon them ; or that God 
would take him out of the world. God mercifully granted a part of 
this prayer, and in the the third month of the siege, which lasted 
fourteen months, Augustine died, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. 

The last thirty-five years of his age were crowded thick with literary 
labors. He wrote numerous treatises, and presented various theories 
and opinions, of which we cannot speak here. He set apart the last 
years of his long and active life for completing his theological works, 
which were in part connected with controversies which he regarded 
as important. 



JEROME. 

Jerome ranks first amongst the Latin Fathers in learning and 
genius. He was born in Stridon, an obscure town in Dalmatia, 
about the year 321. His parents were Christians, and were wealthy 
and of good position. He was liberally educated, and was at length 
sent to Rome, where he completed his studies. At first he plunged 
into the follies and dissipations of the great city, but at length he was 
mercifully rescued from these by the grace of God, and received the 
Christian rite of baptism. 



AND OTHER EMINENT CHRISTIANS. Tit 



After his baptism he travelled into France, in company with Bo- 
nosus, a fellow student. He carefully examined the libraries he met 
with, and acquired a vast amount of information. Returning to 
Rome, he determined to adopt the profession of a monk — a term 
which, in those days, meant simply a private recluse Christian, bound 
by no vows, but free to act according to his own judgment. Pie col- 
lected a large library at Rome. Here he became intimate with 
several families of rank, and aided in developing a fondness for the 
monastic life, which had long been popular in the Eastern Church. 

He became involved in some troublesome quarrels, however, and 
finally concluded to leave Rome. Taking with him his friends, 
Evagrius, Heliodorus, and others, and his books, he went to Syria, 
and became an inmate of the Monastery of Theodorus, near Antioch. 
Here he made himself master of the Hebrew language, and was or- 
dained presbyter by Paulinus, Bishop of Antioch, on condition of his 
remaining a recluse. He took this step by the advice of the Bishop 
of Rome. 

He remained four years in Syria, and then went to Constantinople 
to study theology with Gregory Nazianzan. In 382 Domas sum- 
moned him to Rome, and made him his secretary. He left Rome, on 
the death of Domas, in 385, in consequence of the annoyance given 
him by his enemies there, and went back to Syria, taking with him 
his younger brother Paulinianus, and two Roman ladies of rank and 
wealth, Paula, and her daughter, the Virgin Eustochisem. He 
visited Antioch and Jerusalem, and finally went into Egypt, where 
he visited Didymus of Alexandria, and afterwards the monks of 
Istria. He became disgusted with the monks of this celebrated es- 
tablishment, and went back to Palestine, and fixed his residence at 
Bethlehem. Here Paula erected four monasteries, three for women, 
and one for men. In the latter Jerome passed the rest of his life. 
He instructed the women in theology, and gathered around him many 
of his learned friends. Here he composed the most of his writings, 
and made his famous translation of the Bible into the Latin language, 
which version the Roman Catholic Church adopted as its standard. 
He wrote commentaries on various books of the Old and New Testa- 
ment, lives of the Fathers who had preceded him, controversial tracts, 
and several epistles. He died at Bethlehem, in 420, in the ninetieth 
year of his age, 



712 LIVES OF THE EARLY FATHERS 



PATRICK. 

Patrick, generally called " The Apostle to the Irish," was born in 
Scotland, A. d., 379, at the village of Bonaven, between the towns of 
Dim barton and Glasgow. His original name was Sukkoth. He was 
the son of a poor deacon of the village church, and was religiously 
educated, though he led a wild and careless life until his seventeenth 
year. At this time some pirates from the Irish coast made a descent 
upon his native place, and carried him away. They took him to Ire- 
land and sold him as a slave to one of the Celtic chiefs of that island. 
He was used very 'harshly by his master, and in his trouble he turned 
to God for comfort. In his " Confessions," he says : 

"I was about sixteen years old, and knew nothing of the true God, 
when I and many thousand persons were carried away into captivity, 
according to our deserts, since we had departed from God, and had 
not observed His commands. There God opened my unbelieving 
mind, so that, although late, I thought of my sins, and turned with 
my whole heart to the Lord my God, to Him who looked down on 
my low condition, hud pity on my youth and ignorance, and before I 
knew Him, before I could distinguish between good and evil, guarded, 
protected and cherished me, as a father his son. This I certainly 
know, that before God humbled me, I was like a stone sunk in the 
mire ; but when He came who had power to do it, He raised me in 
His mercy, and put me on a very high place. Wherefore I must 
testify aloud, in order to make some return to the Lord for such great 
blessings in time and eternity, which no human reason is able to es- 
timate. When I came to Ireland, and had daily charge of the cattle, 
I prayed many times a day ; the fear of God and love to Him was 
increasingly kindled in me ; faith grew in me, so that in one day I 
offered a hundred prayers, and at night almost as many ; and when I 
passed the night in the woods or on the mountains, I rose up to pray 
in the snow, ice, and rain, before day-break. Yet I felt no pain ; 
there was no sluggishness in me, such as I now find in myself, for 
then the spirit glowed within me." After spending six years in the 
service of this chief, he believed that he heard a voice in his sleep 
which promised him a speedy return to his native land, and soon an- 
nounced to him that a vessel was ready for him. Firmly believing 
in his vision, he set out for the sea-coast, and succeeded in obtaining 
passage on a ship about to sail for Scotland, and eventually reached 



AND OTHER EMINENT CHRISTIANS, 



713 



bJs home. Several years later, he was again captured by pirates, but 
succeeded in escaping and reaching home. 

It now became the wish of his life to carry the Gospel to the wild 
people among whom he had spent the six years of his captivity, and 
in whose midst he had given his own heart to God. 

" As the Apostle Paul was called by the Lord, in a night-vision, to 
carry the first news of salvation to the people of Macedonia, so a man 
appeared to Patrick in a night-vision, with many letters. He gave 
him one, and he read the words, 6 words of the Irish/ and as he was 
reading, he thought he heard the united voices of many Irish, who 
dwell near the sea, exclaiming, i we beseech thee, child of God, come 
and again walk among us!' His feelings would not allow him to 
read any further, and he awoke. Another night, he believed that he 
heard a voice from heaven, in a dream, the last words of which were 
intelligible to him. ' He who gave His life for thee, He speaks in 
thee.' He awoke full of joy. One night it was as if there was some- 
thing in him, and yet above him, that was. not himself, praying with 
deep sighs, and at the close of the prayer, it spake as if it was no 
other than the spirit of God. He awoke and recollected the trans- 
cendent expressions of Paul, respecting the intimate intercourse of 
God's children with his own Spirit." 

In order to qualify himself for his mission, he went to Gaul, where 
he studied for three years in the monastery of Marmontier, after 
which he spent many years in Italy, still engaged in his studies., 

In 432 he returned to Scotland, preparatory to entering Ireland. 
His friends and relatives strove to keep him back, assuring him that 
the undertaking was far beyond his powers. " Many opposed my 
going," says he, " and said behind my back, 1 Why does this man rush 
into danger among the heathen, who do not know the Lord ? ' It 
was not badly intended on their part ; but they could not comprehend 
the matter on account of my uncouth disposition." 

He passed over to Ireland and began his work. By the sound of a 
kettle drum, he collected large assemblies in the open air, and told 
them of the sufferings of the Saviour for sinful man, and by his 
preaching made many converts. His work was not easy, however, 
for the people were wild and superstitious, and the priests and national 
bards opposed him with a bitter hostility, and subjected him to many 
trying persecutions. His firm courage and faith, and his sweet and 
amiable disposition, by the grace of God, overcame all these, and the 
number of his converts continued to increase. 



714 LIVES OF THE EARLY FATHERS 



He was at one time in a family of rank, the members of which he 
baptized. The son of the house, a youth, entertained such love for 
Patrick, that he resolved, however much his friends tried to dissuade 
him, to forsake all, and to accompany the preacher of the gosj>el 
amidst all his dangers and toils. On account of his friendly, gentle 
disposition, Patrick gave him the name of Benignus. He availed 
himself of the agreeable voice of the youth, in order to influence the 
people by means of singing. 

Benignus was zealously engaged with him in publishing the gospel 
to the time of his death, and he succeeded him in the pastoral office. 
Many of the national bards were converted by him, and sang, in their 
own hymns, of the worthlessness of idolatry, and to the praise of God 
and Christ. 

By the grace of God, Patrick was permitted to perforin some minv 
cles which materially aided in the work of converting the people. 
" Yet I conjure all persons," says he, in referring to them, " let no one, 
on account of these or similar things, believe that I place myself on a 
level with any of the apostles or perfected saints ; for I am a poor, 
sinful, despicable man." 

Patrick devoted himself chiefly to the heads or chieftains of the 
people, knowing that their conversion would exercise a powerful influ- 
ence upon their followers ; but he did not neglect the masses. He 
travelled through the country, frequently attended by his pupils and 
assistants, and preached to the inhabitants with the greatest suc- 
cess. 

He was careful to avoid even the appearance of seeking his own 
profit or honor, and when his grateful converts endeavored to induce 
him to accept presents from them, he firmly refused them. At first 
the givers were offended by this course ; but they finally came to re- 
spect him the more for it. 

Patrick was emphatically the benefactor of Ireland. He not only 
introduced Christianity into a country where paganism had prevailed 
before, but laid the foundations for the institutions of civilization, 
learning and the arts, which followed in the wake of the true faith. For 
more than thirty years, he labored in this great field. He gave up 
his home and friends for his work, and conquered the yearning of his 
heart to see them again. " Gladly," he says, " would I travel to my 
parents in my native land, and also visit the brethren in Gaul, to see 
once more the faces of the saints of my Lord. God knows that I 
wish it very much. But I am bound by the Spirit, who testifies that 



AND OTHER EMINENT CHRISTIANS. T15 



he will pronounce me guilty, if I do this, and I dread lest the work I 
have begun, should fall to the ground." 

Patrick lived until about 465 ; but the date of his death, and the 
incidents of his last hours, are not known. 



PETER WALDO. 

In the twelfth century, there existed many men who sought to 
bring back the Catholic Church, which, in her external appearance, 
seemed to them utterly corrupt, to primitive and apostolical pusity. 
Among these was Petrus Waldus, a rich merchant of the city of 
Lyons, in the south of France. He had been a person of great piety 
from his youth, and was a diligent student of the Bible, and the 
writings of the early Fathers. These convinced him that there were 
abuses in the church, which needed reformation, and imbued him with 
a strong desire to see the Bible translated into the language of the 
country, so that it might be placed in the hands of every Christian. 
At that time the only version of the Scriptures in use in Europe (be- 
sides the original Hebrew and Greek versions) was the Vulgate, or 
Latin Bible of St. Jerome ; but as a knowledge of the Latin was con- 
fined to a very few persons, the Holy Book was accessible to hardly 
more than one in many thousands. Peter Waldo, who was a man of 
learning, resolved that this should no longer be the case, but that the 
word of God should be scattered abroad amongst the masses. So, 
with the assistance of several friends, he translated the Bible into the 
French language, and began to circulate it amongst the people. This 
was the first version in a modern tongue ever seen in Europe, and the 
effect of it was electrical. The demand for it grew greater every day, 
and the result was that, in the south of France especially, the 
hold which the Romish priesthood had upon the masses was weak- 
ened. 

In 1160, Peter Waldo sold his possessions, and distributed the pro- 
ceeds in charity, and began preaching to a body of associates, who 
were commonly called " The Poor of Lyons." He and his followers had 
no design of seceding from the Church of Rome at first, but were ulti- 
mately driven to that step. The clergy bitterly opposed the preaching 
of Waldo and the circulation of the Bible \ but the work went on in 



LI YES OF THE EARLY FATHERS 



spite of them. Then they summoned persecution to their aid, but in 
vain. The Arch-bishop of Lyons commanded Waldo and his compan- 
ions to be silent, whereupon they appealed to Pope Alexander III., 
in 1179, who likewise decided against them, and forbade their meet- 
ings for religious worship. Waldo continued to preach, however, 
teaching that he and his followers must obey God rather than man, 
and, in 1184, they were formally excommunicated by Pope Lucius 
III. 

The seed of religious liberty and reform, thus planted by 
Waldo, continued to grow, and his views spread in France, Italy, 
and "Bohemia, and his adherents became especially numerous in 
Provence and in the Valleys of Piedmont. Persecutions came thickly 
upon the little band of Christians. Waldo was driven about from 
place to place throughout Europe, to avoid the wrath of the Pope and 
his clergy. His followers were burned at the stake, cut down with 
the sword, hurled from precipices, and tortured in almost every con- 
ceivable way, in the vain effort to destroy their religion. They re- 
mained faithful in the midst of all this, however, willing and even 
anxious to attest their faith in their Saviour by martyrdom. Peter 
Waldo went to his rest in a good old age, but the great religious body 
known as the Waldenses has perpetuated his memory, and borne con- 
stant witness to the good he wrought upon earth. He led the Avay 
out from the corruptions of the Romish Church, and became the 
father of one of the most heroic religious bodies known to history. 
But, apart from this, his memory deserves to be cherished by all 
Christian people for the service he rendered the Church of Christ, in 
being the first to give'the Bible to the masses in a language under- 
stood by them. 



JOHN WYCLIFFE. 

John Wycliffe, or De Wycliffe, the father of the English 
Reformers, was born in the village which bears his name, near Rich- 
mond, in Yorkshire, in 1324. He belonged to the gentry, and his 
family dated back to the time of the Conquest as lords of the manor. 
He entered Queen's College, Oxford, about 1340, but soon removed 
to Merton College, where he became noted for his extraordinary tal- 
ents, piety, and scholarship. "He is said to have attained proficiency 



AND OTHER EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 11% 

in the civil, canon, and common law, but devoted himself with the 
greatest zeal and success to the scholastic philosophy and divinity. 
The chroniclers most averse to him admit his preeminence in theolo- 
gical knowledge." 

He made his first appearance as a writer in 1356, in a tract called 
"The Last Age of the Church," (printed in Dublin in 1840,) the 
object of which was to prove that the end of the world was approach- 
ing. The occasion of this work was the prevalence of a terrible 
plague called " The Black Death," which had swept away nearly 
one-fourth of the population of Europe. In 1360 he maintained a 
controversy with the mendicant orders, in which he upheld the au- 
thority of the beneficed clergy against the friars. In the same year 
he was made Master of Baliol College, and was given the parish of 
Tillingham, in the Diocese of Lincoln. In 1365 he exchanged the 
Mastership of Baliol for the Wardenship of Canterbury ; but, in con- 
sequence of the hostility of the monks, his appointment was declared 
void by the Arch-bishop of Canterbury, and he commenced a litiga- 
tion for the recovery of his place, which lasted seven years and was 
finally decided against him. He was now made one of the king's 
chaplains, and when Pope Urban V. demanded tribute of King John, 
Wycliffe strongly opposed the demand, declaring the Pope's claim of 
feudal superiority " to be baseless on the ground of both reason and 
Scripture." 

In 1368 he exchanged the living of Tillingham for that of Ludger- 
shall, which lay nearer to Oxford ; and in 1372 the degree of doctor 
of theology was conferred upon him by the University. This honor 
entitled him to deliver lectures in the University as professor of 
theology. He at once began his lectures, "with very great applause," 
says Lewis, " having such an authority in the schools, that whatever 
he said was received as an oracle. In these lectures he frequently 
took notice of the corruptions of the begging friars, which, at first, he 
did in a soft and gentle manner, till finding that his detecting their 
abuses was what was acceptable to his hearers, he proceeded to deal 
more plainly and openly with them." 

In 1375 Edward III. made him a member of the Embassy sent to 
"negotiate at Bruges with the delegates of Gregory XL, chiefly con- 
cerning the papal reservation of benefices in England which were held 
by foreigners, and the revenues of which were transmitted to Rome 
or Avignon, a matter which had been frequently complained of in the 
English Parliament." He was abroad on this errand for two years, 



718 LIVES OF THE EARLY FATHERS 



and during his absence was presented by the king to the prebend of 
Aust, in the collegiate church of Westbuiy, and to the rectory of 
Lutterworth. His manful defence of the rights of the English 
Crown against the pretensions of Rome, rendered him very obnoxious 
to the Pontiff and hie partisans in England. In 1377 the Pope or- 
dered the English prelates to arrest and confine him, and to investi- 
gate the doctrines promulgated by him. Before this bull arrived an 
attempt was made to try him before a Convocation assembled at Saint 
Paul's. He appeared in the court accompanied by John of Gaunt, 
the great Duke of Lancaster, and Lord Percy, Earl Marshal of Eng- 
land. In consequence of the powerful protection of these great lords, 
his enemies were unable to accomplish anything against him, and 
when the Pope's bull arrived, it met with a cold reception. Soon 
after this, Wycliffe, at the request of the Parliament, prepared a paper 
sustaining the right of the Kingdom to refuse to pay tribute to the 
Pope. 

In 1378, he was summoned before a synod cf the clergy in Lam- 
beth. It w r as the intention of the clergy to condemn him for heresy, 
but the populace and the queen-mother sided with him, and his ene- 
mies Avere overawed. Upon this occasion " he maintained that the 
ultimate authority concerning the persons and property of churchmen 
belonged to the laity, and he denied that censures pronounced by 
ecclesiastics were valid, unless they accorded with the will of God." 
The schism in the church, caused by the election of two Popes, now 
occurred, and greatly weakened the power of the papacy, and beyond 
a doubt saved AVycliffe from a serious persecution. 

He now resumed his lectures and writings, but the most important 
work of his life was the translation of the Bible into the English 
language, the first attempt of the kind ever made. He made, says 
Lingard, " a new translation, multiplied the copies with the aid of 
transcribers, and by his poor priests recommended it to the perusal 
of their hearers. In their hands it became an engine of wonderful 
power. Men were flattered with the appeal to their private judg- 
ment; the new doctrines insensibly acquired partizans and protectors 
in the higher classes, who alone were acquainted with the use of let- 
ters ; a spirit cf inquiry was generated ; and the seeds were sown of 
that religious revolution which, in little more than a century, as- 
tonished and convulsed the nations of Europe." In this translation 
he was no doubt assisted by pupils, or learned friends. He was the 
head of an organization called " Poor Priests," who travelled about 



AND OTHER EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 719 



through the country and disseminated his opinions by preaching in 
the ohurch-yards, and at the market and fairs. So great was the effect 
of this system of preaching, and of his writings, that it is said that 
Wycliffe's doctrines were held by about one-half of the English 
people. 

In consequence of his public denial of the doctrine of transub- 
stantiation, his enemies induced the king to banish him from the 
University of Oxford in 1382. He retired to the rectory of Lutter- 
worth, where he passed the remainder of his life in completing his 
translation of the Bible, and in literary labors of various kinds. 

In December, 1384, he was cited to appear before the Pope to 
answer to the charge of heresy, but declared his physical inability to 
obey the summons. On the 31st of that month he was stricken with 
a fit of the palsy while hearing mass in his church, and never spoke 
again. The papal vengeance, however, pursued him even into his 
grave. In 1415, the Council of Constance ordered his books to be 
burned, and his body to be torn from the grave and burned, which 
infamous decree was executed to the letter. 

The doctrines which Wycliffe taught were directly hostile to the 
supremacy of Rome, though he never withdrew himself from the 
communion of that church, but died a priest in it. According to 
him, " the authority of the Crown was supreme over all persons and 
property in England, to the exclusion not only of the secular, but the 
spiritual jurisdiction of the papal court. He was opposed to the 
whole framework of the hierarchy, as a device of clerical ambition, 
to episcopacy, and endowments, and held that the clergy should be 
supported by alms, and should require only livelihood and clothing. 
He retained the ordinance of baptism, but without regarding it as 
essential to salvation ; and the sacrament of the mass, but without the 
doctrine of transubstantiation. He denied any intrinsic beneficial 
influence from confirmation, penance, holy orders, or extreme unction, 
and declared them all fraught with delusion. He believed in the 
existence of an intermediate state, but held masses for the dead to be 
a piece of clerical machinery, adjusted with a view to gain. He 
taught that men are neither the better nor worse for church censures, 
but that the destiny of each is determined according to his own spir- 
itual condition as a responsible creature." 



720 LIYES OF THE EARLY FATHERS 



JOHN HUSS. 

John Huss was born on the 6tii of July, 1370, at Hussinctz, a 
small town in Bohemia, near the border of Bavaria. Although of 
an humble family, he managed to obtain the means to pursue his 
studies, first in his own town, then at Prasehalitz, and finally at the 
University of Prague, where he graduated in 1393. The University 
was at this time at the height of its glory, having more than twenty 
thousand students in attendance upon it. In 1398, Huss began to 
give lectures in Philosophy and Theology, and in 1401 became presi- 
dent of the university faculty of Theology. In 1402 he was ap- 
pointed preacher in the Bethlehem Chapel, which had been estab- 
lished in 1392 for the purpose of enabling the people to hear the 
gospel in the Bohemian tongue. He also became the confessor and 
friend of Queen Sophia ; and while holding this position became 
acquainted with the writings of "Wycliffe, the English reformer, and 
was not long in adopting his views. His own profound studies con- 
vinced him of the truth of Wycliffe's leading ideas, and the example 
of the English writer inspired him in his turn to become the reformer 
of the church in Bohemia. He preached boldly against the doctrines 
of indulgences, of masses for the dead, image worship, set fasts, con- 
fession to priests, and demanded the despoiling of the churches of 
their useless ornaments, that the poor might be fed and clothed ; and 
called upon the secular officers to take cognizance of and punish the 
crimes and offences of the ecclesiastics. He also introduced sweepiug 
reforms into the University, of which he shortly after became rector. 

His bold course produced a terrible commotion in the church and 
in the University. About five thousand students from Germany and 
Poland withdrew from the University, but the Bohemians rallied to 
the support of Huss, whom they regarded as their champion. In 
short, the contest assumed the character of a war between the Uni- 
versity and the Church. Pope Alexander V. cited Huss to appear at 
Rome, but he refused to go. The Arch-bishop of Prague took active 
measures against him, and, amongst other things, burned 200 of 
Wycliffe's books. Huss boldly defended Wycliffe as far as he be- 
lieved him to be right, and declared his willingness to go to the stake 
in defence of what he believed to be the truth. The disturbance con- 
tinued to increase, and an outbreak occurred in the city, which resulted 
in the flight of the Arch-bishop, and the return of Huss to his chapel. 



AND OTHER EMINENT CHRISTIANS 721 



Political questions now became involved with the Theological dis- 
putes between the University and the Pope, and the conduct of Huss, 
for political reasons, became obnoxious to the king, who, however, 
sought earnestly to moderate the zeal of the reformer. Huss was not 
willing to cease his warfare against papal corruption for reasons of 
state policy, but yielded to the request of the king to withdraw from 
Prague for a time. He retired to his native town, from which he con- 
thmed to denounce the errors and abuses against which he had fought 
so boldly at the University. 

When the Council of Constance was convened by Pope John 
XXIII., in 1414, Huss was. summoned to appear before it, to answer 
to the charge of heresy. The Emperor Sigusmund gave him a safe con- 
duct, and, in opposition to the wishes of his friends, he set out for 
Constance escorted by four knights, and receiving everywhere along 
his route assurances of sympathy and esteem from all classes. When 
he reached Constance, the Pope received him with a fraternal greet- 
ing. " If John Huss had killed my own brother," said the Pontiff, 
" I would hinder with all my power the least injustice to him during 
his stay in Constance." He even went so far as to promise to sus- 
pend the former interdict which had been pronounced against 
Huss. 

The enemies of Huss (for the fiery zeal of the reformer had made 
many of these), now exerted themselves to stir up the popular fury 
against him ; and, by spreading the report that he intended to escape, 
they caused his arrest while he was engaged in preparing for his de- 
fence before the Council, and imprisoned him first in the Cathedral, 
and then in the Dominican Convent on an island in the lake. He 
was treated with kindness by the keepers of his prison, but his letters 
were opened, and his appeals to the Emperor, who had promised to 
protect him during his stay in Constance, were disregarded by that 
monarch. 

When brought before the Council, he was charged with " denying 
transubstantiation ; with treating St. Gregory as a buffoon ; with 
teaching in Bohemia the doctrines of Wycliffe ; with encouraging his 
friends to resist the mandates of the Arch-bishop; with exciting a 
schism of the state from the church ; with appealing from the Pope to 
Christ ; with counselling the people to violent and aggressive mea- 
sures ; and with boasting that he Could not have been forced either by 
pope or emperor to come to Constance, unless he had chosen to come." 
Some of these charges he frankly admitted ; some he denied. Though 
46 



122 LIVES OF THE EARLY FATHERS 



received at first with an outburst of hisses and insults by the members 
of the Council, Huss was at length allowed to make his defence ; but 
it was of no avail. His enemies required that he should either recant 
all his doctrines, or suffer death. He chose the latter alternative, and 
silenced the appeals and threats of the emperor, who urged him to re- 
cant, by reminding him of his promise to hold him unscathed during 
the session of the Council. 

On the 24th of June, 1415, his books were burned as heretical, 
" On the 6th of July, he was brought before the Council to receive 
sentence. The place of assembly was densely crowded. After a dis- 
course from the Bishop of Lodi, from the text, i that the body of sin 
be destroyed/ the 39 articles were read, together with the sentence of 
condemnation of the books of Huss, and finally the sentence of him- 
self to be degraded from the priesthood as an incorrigible heretic, 
and given over to the secular arm. He was then conducted out of 
the city, to an open field, in which a stake and a pile of wood had 
been erected. Here he was again summoned to abjure his heresies ; 
but at the summons he only knelt and prayed, using the words of the 
Psalms of David. As the fire was kindled, he began to sing with a 
loud voice the Christe eleison, (' Jesus, have mercy ') and only ceased 
when he was suffocated by the rising flame. When the fire had ceased, 
the ashes of the pile were gathered and thrown into the Rhine; all 
traces of the event were carefully obliterated, and to this day the exact 
spot remains uncertain." 

The followers of Huss in Bohemia took up arms to avenge his 
death, and a terrible civil Avar of fifteen years' duration followed. 



MARTIN LUTHER. 

Martin Luther was born on the 10th of November, 1483, at 
Eisleben, in Saxony, and was of respectable parentage. He obtained 
a good education, and at first set out to study law ; but his attention 
being strongly drawn towards religion by the perusal of a Latin Bible, 
lie determined to adopt theology as his profession, and entered the 
monastery of the Augustine monks, and became a mendicant friar. 
He was now a member of an order entirely devoted to the support of 
the papacy and all its abuses, and it seemed that his immense talents 



AND OTHER EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 723 



were to be devoted to the same object. While a member of this order, 
lie made a pilgrimage to Rome. 

In the year 1517, however, an event occurred which changed the 
whole current of Luther's life. Doubtless his eyes had been opened 
to many of the errors of the system to which he belonged ; but now, 
the cup was filled to overflowing, and Luther felt called upon to take 
his place as the champion of the truth. John Tetzel, a Dominican 
monk, passed through Germany, selling the indulgences of Pope Leo 
X., " that is, he was publicly selling to all purchasers remissions of 
all sins, past, present, or future, however great their number, however 
enormous their nature." Tetzel, it seems, offered these indulgences 
for sale in the most outrageous and indecent manner. 

Luther, filled with indignation at the whole affair, drew up a pro- 
test in ninety-five articles, which he nailed to the door of the church 
in Wittemberg, where he was then residing, in which he severely cen- 
sured not only the extortions of the indulgence mongers, but the co- 
operation of the clergy in seducing the people from the true faith, and 
calling them away from the only road to salvation. He enclosed a 
copy of his protest to the Arch-bishop of Magdeburg, and entreated 
that prelate to put a stop to Tetzel 's scandalous practices. 

Luther's action gave rise to a sharp controversy between himself 
and the partisans of the Pope. Unlike the other reformers, he had a 
gigantic power to aid him in his warfare. The printing press scat- 
tered his pamphlets all over Germany, and by diffusing his arguments 
won him thousands of supporters. 

" Leo X., a luxurious, indolent, and secular, though literary, pon- 
tiff, would have disregarded the broil, and left it, like so many 
others, to subside of itself, had not the Emperor Maximilian assured 
him of the dangerous impression it had already made on the German 
people. Accordingly, he commanded Luther to appear at the ap- 
proaching diet of Augsburg, and justify himself before the papal 
legate. At the same time he appointed Cardinal Caieton, a Domini- 
can, and a professed enemy of Luther, to be arbiter of the dispute. 
They met in October, 1518; the legate was imperious; Luther was 
not submissive. He solicited reasons, he was answered only with 
authority. He left the city in haste, and appealed 'to the Pope better 
informed 1 — yet it was still to the Pope that he appealed — he still 
recognized his sovereign supremacy. But, in the following month, 
Leo published an edict, in which he claimed the power of delivering 
sinners from all punishments due to every sort of transgression : and 



124 LIVES OF THE EARLY FATHERS 



thereupon Luther, despairing of any reasonable accommodation with 
the pontiff, published an appeal from the Pope to a general Council. 

" The Pope then saw the expediency of conciliatory measures, and 
accordingly dispatched a layman, named Miltitz, as his legate with 
commission to compose the difference by private negotiations with 
Luther. Miltitz united great dexterity and penetration with a tem- 
per naturally moderate and not inflamed by ecclesiastical prejudices. 
Luther was still in the outset of his career. His opinions had not 
yet made any great progress towards maturity ; he had not fully as- 
certained the foundations on which his principles were built ; he had 
not proved by any experience the firmness of his own character. He 
yielded, at least, so far as to express his perfect submission to the 
commands of the Pope, to exhort his followers to persist in the same 
obedience, and to promise silence on the subject of indulgences, pro- 
vided it were also imposed upon his adversaries. 

" It is far too much to say (as some have said) that had Luther's 
concession been carried into effect, the Reformation would have been 
stifled in its birth. The principles of the Reformation were too firmly 
seated in reason and in truth, and too deeply ingrafted in the hearts 
of the German people, to remain long suppressed through the in- 
firmity of any individual advocate. But its progress might have 
been somewhat retarded had not the violence of its enemies afforded 
it seasonable aid. A doctor named Eckius, a zealous satellite of 
papacy, invited Luther to a public disputation in the castle of Pleis- 
senburg. The subject on which they argued was the supremacy of 
the Roman pontiff ; and it was a substantial triumph for the Reformer, 
and no trifling insult to papal despotism, that the appointed arbiters 
left the question undecided. 

" Eckius repaired to Rome, and appealed in person to the offended 
authority of the Vatican. His remonstrances were reiterated and in- 
flamed by the furious zeal of the Dominicans, with Caietan at their 
head ; and thus Pope Leo, whose calmer and more indifferent judg- 
ment would probably have led him to accept the submission of Lu- 
ther, and thus put the question for the moment at rest, was urged 
into measures of at least unseasonable vigor. He published a bull on 
the 15th of June, 1520, in which he solemnly condemned forty-one 
heresies extracted from the writings of the Reformer, and condemned 
these to be publicly burnt. At the same time he summoned the au- 
thor, on pain of excommunication, to confess and retract his pretended 
errors within the space of sixty days, and to throw himself upon the 
mercy of the Vatican. 



AND OTHER EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 725 



" Open to the influence of mildness and persuasion, the breast of 
Luther only swelled more boldly when he was assailed by menace 
and insult. He refused the act of humiliation required of him ; 
more than that, he determined to anticipate the anathema suspended 
over him, by at once withdrawing himself from the communion of 
the Church ; and again, having come to that resolution, he fixed upon 
the manner best suited to give it efficacy and publicity. With this 
view he caused a pile of wood to be erected without the walls of Wit- 
temberg, and there, in the presence of a vast multitude of all ranks 
and orders, he committed the bull to the flames ; and with it the De- 
cree, the Decretals, the Clementines, the Extravagants, the entire code 
of Romish jurisprudence. It is necessary to observe, that he had 
prefaced this measure by a renewal of his former appeal to a general 
Council, so that the extent of his resistance may be accurately defined ; 
he continued a faithful member of the Catholic church, but he re- 
jected the despotism of the Pope, he refused obedience to an unlimited 
and usurped authority. The bull of excommunication immediately 
followed, (January 6th, 1521,) but it fell without force, and any 
dangerous effect which it might otherwise have produced, was obvi- 
ated by the provident boldness of Luther. 

" Here was the origin of the Reformation. This was the irreparable 
breach, which gradually widened to absolute disruption. The Re- 
former was now compromised, by his conduct, by his principles, per- 
haps even by his passions. He had crossed the bounds which divided 
insubordination from rebellion, and his banners were openly unfurled, 
and his legions pressed forward on the march to Rome. Henceforth 
the champion of the Gospel entered with more than his former courage 
on the pursuit of truth ; and having shaken off one of the greatest 
and earliest of the prejudices in which he had been educated, he pro- 
ceeded with fearless independence to examine and dissipate the rest. 

" Charles V. succeeded Maximilian in the empire in the year 1519 ; 
and since Frederic of Saxony persisted in protecting the person of 
the Reformer, Leo X. became the more anxious to arouse the impe- 
rial indignation in defence of the injured majesty of the Church. In 
1521, a diet was assembled at Worms, and Luther was summoned to 
plead his cause before it. A safe-conduct was granted him by the 
Emperor, and on the 17th of April, he presented himself before the 
jugust aristocracy of Germany. This audience gave occasion to the 
most splendid scene in his history. His friends were yet few, and of ns 
great influence ; his enemies were numerous and powerful, and eager 



726 LIVES OF THE EARLY FATHERS 



for his destruction. The cause of truth, the hopes of religious regen- 
eration, appeared to be placed at that moment in the discretion and 
constancy of one man. The faithful trembled ; but Luther had then 
cast off the incumbrances of early fears and prepossessions, and was 
prepared to give a free course to his earnest and unyielding character. 
His manner and expression abounded with respect and humility ; but 
in the matter of his public apology, he declined in no one particular 
from the fulness of his conviction. Of the numerous opinions which 
he had by this time adopted at variance with the injunctions of Rome, 
there was not one which in the hour of danger he consented to com- 
promise. The most violent exertions were made by the papal party 
to effect his immediate ruin ; and there were some who were not 
ashamed to counsel a direct violation of the imperial safe-conduct. It 
was designed to re-enact the crimes of Constance, after the interval 
of a century, on another theatre. But the infamous proposal was 
soon rejected ; and it was on this occasion that Charles is recorded to 
have replied, with princely indignation, that if honor were banished 
from every other residence it ought to find refuge in the breasts of 
kings. 

" Luther was permitted to retire from the diet; but he had not 
proceeded far on his return when he was surprised by a number of 
armed men and carried away into captivity. It was an act of friendly 
violence. A temporary concealment was thought necessary for his 
present security, and he was hastily conveyed to the solitary castle of 
Wartenburg. In the meantime the assembly issued the declaration 
known in history as the ' Edict of Worms/ in which the Reformer 
was denounced as an excommunicated schismatic and heretic; and all 
his friends and adherents, all who protected or conversed with him, 
were pursued by penalties and censures. The cause of papacy ob- 
tained a momentary, perhaps only a seeming triumph, for it was not 
followed by any substantial consequences ; and while the anathema- 
tized Reformer lay in safety in his secret Patmos, as he used to call it, 
the Emperor withdrew to other parts of Europe, to prosecute schemes 
and interests which*then seemed far more important than the religious 
tenets of a German monk. 

" While Luther was in retirement, his disciples at Wittemberg, 
under the guidance of Carloztadt, a man of learning and piety, pro- 
ceeded to put into force some of the first principles of the Reformation. 
They would have restrained, by compulsion, the superstition of 
private masses, and torn away from the churches the proscribed 



AND OTHER EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 127 



images. Luther disapproved of the violence of these measures ; or, 
it may also be, as some impartial writers have insinuated, that he 
grudged to any other than himself the glory of achieving them. 
Accordingly, after an exile of ten months, he suddenly came forth 
from his place of refuge and appeared at Witteinberg. Had he then 
confined his influence to the introduction of a more moderate policy 
among the reformers, many plausible arguments might have been 
urged in his favor. But he also appears unhappily to have been ani- 
mated by a personal animosity against Carloztadt, which was dis- 
played both then and afterwards in some acts not very far removed 
from persecution. 

"The marriage of Luther, and his marriage to a nun, was the event 
of his life which gave most triumph to his enemies and perplexity to 
his friends. It was in perfect conformity with his masculine and daring- 
mind, that, having satisfied himself of the nullity of his monastic 
vows, he should take the boldest method 'of displaying to the world 
how utterly he rejected them.' Others might have acted differently, 
and abstained, either from conscientious scruples, or, being satisfied in 
their own minds, from fear to give offence to their weaker brethren, and 
it would be presumptuous to condemn either course of action. It is 
proper to mention that this marriage did not take place till the year 
1525, after Luther had long formally rejected many of the observ- 
ances of the Roman Catholic Church ; and that the nun whom he 
espoused had quitted her convent and renounced her profession some 
time before. 

" The war of the peasants, and the fanaticism of Munster and his 
followers, presently afterwards desolated Germany, and the papal 
party did not lose that occasion to vilify the principles of the reform- 
ers, and indentify the revolt from a spiritual despotism with general 
insurrection and massacre. It is therefore necessary here to observe 
that the false enthusiasm of Munster was, perhaps, first detected and 
denounced by Luther ; and that the pen of the latter was incessantly 
employed in deprecating every act of civil insubordination. He was 
the loudest in his condemnation of some acts of spoliation by laymen 
who appropriated the monastic revenues, and at a subsequent period, 
so far did he carry his principles, so averse was he, not only from the 
use of offensive violence, but even from the employment of force in 
the defence of his cause, that on some later occasions he exhorted the 
Elector of Saxony by no means to oppose the imperial edicts by arms, 
but rather to consign the persons and principles of the reformers to 



728 LIVES OF THE EARLY FATHERS 



the protection of Providence. For he was inspired with a holy con- 
fidence that Christ would not desert his faithful followers, but rather 
find means to accomplish his work without the agitation of civil dis- 
orders or the intervention of the sword. That confidence evinced the 
perfect earnestness of his professions and his entire devotion to the 
truth of his principles. It also proved that he had given himself up 
to the cause in which he had engaged, and that he was elevated above 
the consideration of personal safety. This was no effeminate enthu- 
siasm, no passionate aspiration after the glory of martyrdom ! It 
was the working of the Spirit of God upon an ardent nature, im- 
pressed with the divine character of the mission with which it was 
entrusted and assured, against all obstacles, of final and perfect 
success. 

"As this is not a history of the Reformation, but only a sketch of 
the life of an individual reformer, we shall at once proceed to an affair 
strongly, though not very favorably, illustrating his character. The 
subject of the Eucharist commanded, among the various doctrinal 
differences, perhaps the greatest attention ; and in this matter Luther 
Teceded but a short space, and with unusual timidity, from the faith 
in which he had been educated. He admitted the real corporeal 
presence in the elements, and differed from the Church only as to the 
manner of that presence. He rejected the actual and perfect change 
of substance, but supposed the flesh to subsist in or with the bread, 
as fire subsists in red hot iron. Consequently he renounced the term 
transubstantiation, and substituted consubstantiation in its place. In 
the meantime, Zuinglius, the reformer of Zuric, had examined the 
same question with greater independence, and had reached the bolder 
conclusion, that the bread and wine are no more than external signs, 
intended to revive our recollections and animate our piety. This 
opinion was adopted by Carloztadt, (Ecolampadius, and other fathers 
of the Reformation, and followed by the Swiss Protestants, and gen- 
erally by the free cities of the empire. Those who held it were called 
Sacramcntarians. The opinion of Luther prevailed in Saxony, and 
in the northern provinces of Germany. 

"The difference was important. It was felt to be so by the re- 
formers themselves ; and the Lutheran party expressed that sentiment 
with too little moderation. The papists or Papalins (Papalini) were 
alert in perceiving the division, in exciting the dissension, and in in- 
flaming it, if possible, into absolute schism ; and in this matter it 
must be admitted that Luther himself was too much disposed, by hi« 



AND OTHER EMINENT CHRISTIANS. T29 



intemperate vehemence, to further their design. These discords were 
becoming dangerous, and in 1529, Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, the 
most ardent among the protectors of the Reformation, assembled the 
leading doctors of either party to a public disputation at Marburg. 
The particulars of this conference are singularly interesting to the 
th -^logical reader: but it is here sufficient to mention, without enter- 
ing into the doctrinal merits of the controversy, that whatever was 
.. irious in assertion and overbearing in authority, and unyielding 
and unsparing in polemical altercation, proceeded from the mouth and 
parry of Luther ! that every approach to humility and self-distrust, 
and mutual toleration and common friendship, came from the side of 
Zuinglius and the Sacramentarians ; and we are bound to add, that 
the same uncompromising spirit which precluded Luther from all co- 
operation or fellowship with those whom he thought in error, (it was 
the predominant spirit of the church which he had deserted,) continued 
on future occasions to interrupt, and even to endanger, the work of 
his own hands. But that very spirit was the vice of a character 
which 'endured no moderation or concession in any matter wherein 
Christian truth was concerned, but which too hastily assumed its own 
infallibility in ascertaining that truth. Luther would have excom- 
municated the Sacramentarians ; and he did not perceive how precisely 
his principle was the same with that of the Church which had excom- 
municated himself. 

''Luther was not present at the celebrated Diet of Augsburg, held 
under the superintendence of Charles V. in 1530 : but he was in con- 
stant correspondence with Melancthon during that fearful period, and 
in the reproofs which he cast on the temporizing, though perhaps 
necessary, negotiations of the latter, he at least exhibited his own up- 
rightness and impetuosity. The "Confessions'' of the Protestants, 
there published, were constructed on the basis of seventeen articles 
previously drawn up by Luther : and it was not without his counsels 
that the faith permanently adopted by the church which bears his 
name was finally digested and matured. From that crisis the history 
ot the Reformation took more of a political, loss of a religious charac- 
ter, and the name of Luther is therefore less prominent than in the 
earlier proceedings. But still he continued, for sixteen years longer, 
to exert his energies in the cause which was peculiarly his own, and 
to influence, by his advice and authority, the new ecclesiastical 
system. * 

His great labors literally wore out his energies. He was seized 



ISO LIVES OF THE EARLY FATHERS 



with his last sickness while on a journey to his native place, and died 
there on the 18th of February, 1546. His remains were removed in 
solemn procession to Wittemberg, and deposited in the Castle church, 
near the pulpit. 



JOHN CALVIN. 

John Calvin, or Chauvin, was born at Noyon, near Paris, on the 
10th of July, 1509. His grandfather was a cooper, and his father 
apostolic notary and fiscal procurator in Noyon, and a man of great 
intelligence. His mother, Jeanne Lanfranc de Cambrai, was noted 
for her beauty and her fervid piety, and it was from her that her son 
inherited his strong religious views. His parents were both Roman 
Catholics, and he was educated in that faith. He was enabled to 
pursue his studies with success, and was at first intended for the 
priesthood. He showed such undoubted talent, however, tTiat his 
father induced him to abandon the church and study law, and for this 
purpose he went to Bourges. " His natural inclination seems ever to 
have bent him towards the pursuits to which his earliest attention was 
directed ; and though he never attended the schools of theology, nor 
had at any time any public master in that science, yet his thoughts 
were never far away from it ; and the time which he could spare from 
his professional labors was employed on subjects bearing more or less 
directly upon religion." 

It was during his legal studies that his attention was drawn to the 
doctrines of the reformers. He commenced to examine them for him- 
self, and soon came to embrace them, and took a prominent part in 
the discussions of the day in defence of them, and soon became so 
well known as their champion that he found himself very obnoxious 
to some of the partizans of Rome. In 1535 he published his great 
work, " The Christian Institute," which was designed as an exposi- 
tion of the religious faith of the French Reformers, and a defence of 
them against the charges which confounded them with the Anabap- 
tists of Germany. 

In 1536 the enmity of the Catholics compelled him to quit France, 
and he determined to go into Germany. His route lay through 
Geneva. He found that city in a state of confusion. The Reforma- 
tion had driven away the Catholic bishops and clergy, and religious 



AND OTHER EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 731 



affairs were in a state of anarchy. Calvin's writings had earned him 
a high reputation, and the leading men of Geneva besought him to 
remain, and help them to organize the reformed church upon a stable 
basis. He at first hesitated, but at length consented to remain and 
open a school of theology. He preached a sermon shortly after his 
arrival, and made such an impression upon the people that he became 
one of the pastors. 

"In the very vear following his arrival, he formed the design of 
introducing into his adopted country a regular system of ecclesiastical 
polity. He assembled the people, and not without much opposition 
prevailed on them at length to bind themselves by oath; first, that 
they would not again, on any consideration, ever submit to the do- 
minion of Rome; secondly, that they would render obedience to a cer- 
tain code of ecclesiastical laws, which he and his colleagues had drawn 
tip for them. Some writers do not expressly mention that this second 
proposition was accepted by the people — if accepted, it was immedi- 
ately violated; and as Calvin and his clerical coadjutors (who were 
only two in number) refused with firmness to administer the holy 
communion to such as rejected the condition, the people, not yet pre- 
pared to endure that bondage, banished the spiritual legislators from 
the city in April, 1538." 

From Geneva he went to Strasbourg, where he was welcomed by 
Bucer, and put in charge of a church of 1,500 French refugees. He 
attended the Conferences at Worms and Ratisbon, and by his course 
on those occasions greatly added to his reputation. He obtained a 
theological chair in Strasbourg, and founded a French reformed 
church in that city. In 1540 he was married to Idalette de Bures, 
the widow of an Anabaptist, whom he had turned from the tenets of 
that sect. A son was the issue of this marriage ; but he died in his 
infancy, and in 1549, Calvin lost his wife. Their marriage had been 
a very happy one, and her death was a great blow to Calvin. 

Meanwhile, the disorders had been increasing at Geneva, and in 
1541, two years after his expulsion from the place, Calvin consented 
to return at the earnest entreaties of the people, and with the distinct 
understanding that his discipline was to be carried out. "His idea 
of the proper power and purity of the visible church was much higher 
than that of his contemporary German reformers. To have a reformed 
church was his ideal. That reform must embrace not only doctrine 
and ritual, but also the whole life. The most thorough expounder of 
original sin, he was also the most determined opponent of all actual 



732 LIVES OF THE EARLY FATHERS 



transgressions. The strictest advocate of Divine sovereignty, he in- 
sisted most strenuously upon man's rigid obedience. The church was 
the great institution for the regeneration of human society. ( Man 
cannot enter into life unless he be born of her womb, nourished at her 
breast, and kept under her fostering care/ The ministry is divinely 
appointed ; synods of pastors and elders are for the preservation of 
truth and order. The state is to aid, and not to rule, this spiritual 
institution, though both church and state concur in the sphere of 
morals. Rules of discipline, conformed to these radical views, were 
adopted by the whole people, Nov. 20th, 1541. The presbyterial 
system was fully inaugurated, which became a model for the govern- 
ment of reformed churches in other countries. The consistory had 
twice as many elders (12) as ministers, and these elders were annually 
elected by the church. The system of representation was thus estab- 
lished, so fruitful in the subsequent political history of Europe. The 
consistory met every Thursday to consider cases of discipline. A con- 
gregation was assembled on each Friday for practical religious im- 
provement. The general council elected by the people continued its 
functions; but it assembled only twice a year, and the real power was 
gradually absorbed by the lesser council and by the consistory. The 
latter Avas the real tribunal of morals, and its inquisitorial sphere ex- 
tended to the whole population. It could not punish beyond excom- 
munication ; but the civil power was expected to do the rest. * * 
Severe penalties were often inflicted for slight offences; once a person 
was punished for laughing while John Calvin was preaching. But 
the effect upon the city was marvellous. It became the most moral 
town in Europe. It was also the home of letters, and the bulwark of 
orthodoxy." 

Calvin was not only all-powerful in religious matters, but his in- 
fluence extended to civil affairs also. The magistrates never ventured 
upon any act without first consulting him, and his wishes geuerally 
prevailed in ordinary matters, and always in important ones. He 
was universally regarded as the head of the reformed church in France 
and the greater part of Europe. Secure in his refuge from the perse- 
cution of the Catholics, he prepared a liturgy for the use of his 
church, and laws and rules of government for the congregations scat- 
tered throughout the continent. His writings were widely spread, 
and exercised a powerful influence upon the religious world. He pro- 
cured the establishment of the University of Geneva, which was for 
years the principal school for the Presbyterian ministry, and was the 



AND OTHER EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 133 



beginning of the marked degree of literary culture for which Geneva 
is now famous. 

It would be impossible to state, much less to explain, the doctrines 
of Calvin in this brief sketch. They are familiar to the general 
reader, and we shall pass them by. 

Early in 1564, his body began to give way under the weight of 
the cares which rested upon him, and before the ravages of a combi- 
nation of diseases, which had been aggravated by his severe labors. 
He could scarcely eat his food, yet he continued to prepare his com- 
ments on the Book of Joshua, which he dictated to an amanuensis. 
On the fourth of February, of that year, he undertook to preach a 
sermon, but was obliged to stop. He was confined to his bed in 
April, and lingered on in great suffering until the evening of the 
27th of May, 1564, when he died. " He was buried in the cemetery 
of Plain Palais ; at his own request, no monument marked the spot, 
and no one in Geneva can now tell where rest the remains of the man 
who made that city famous." 

He was very poor when he died, having cared nothing for wea >s li. 
His entire estate did not exceed three hundred crowns, and chi* \q 
left to bis relatives and poor foreigners. 




OPENING OF THE SEVENTH SEAL. 




734 



THE 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS, 

FROM THE 

EARLIEST TIMES TO THE PRESENT DAY. 



Of all the nations of the world, the Jews, or Hebrews, are the 
most remarkable. They trace their ancestry immediately back to the 
creation of man. " When little more numerous than a family, they 
had their language, customs, and peculiar observances — treated with 
princes — and in every respect acted as a nation. Though broken as 
if into atoms, and scattered through all climes, among the rudest, and 
most civilized nations, they have preserved, through thousands of 
years, common features, habits, and observances — a common religion, 
literature, and sacred language. Without any political union, with- 
out a common head or centre, they are generally regarded, and regard 
themselves as a nation. They began as nomads, ' migrating from 
nation to nation, from State to State their law made them agricul- 
turalists for fifteen centuries ; their exile has transformed them into a 
mercantile people. They have struggled for their national existence 
against the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Syrians, and Romans, 
have been conquered, and nearly exterminated, by each of these 
powers, and have survived them all. They have been oppressed and 
persecuted by Emperors and Republics, Sultans and Popes, Moors and 
Inquisitors ; they were proscribed in Catholic Spain, Protestant Nor- 
way, and Greek Muscovy, while their persecutors sang the hymns of 
their psalmists, revered their books, believed in their prophets, and 
even persecuted them in the name of their God. They have num- 
bered philosophers among the Greeks of Alexandria and the Saracens 
of Cordova — have transplanted the wisdom of the East beyond the 
Pyrenees and the Rhine — and have been treated as pariahs among 
Pagans, Mohammedans, and Christians. They have fought for liberty 



736 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 



under Kosciuszko and Bliicher, and popular assemblies among the 
Slavi and Germans still withheld from them the right of living in 
certain towns, villages, and streets." Surely, then, nothing can be of 
more interest than a history of this remarkable people, so numerous- 
in our own country, and destined to exercise so important an influence 
upon its future history. 

Man was the noblest and last of all God's created works. The 
whole earth was given to him to subdue and enjoy. In a moment of 
sinful presumption he fell from the high estate assigned him, brought 
death into the world, and the thousand ills which he has left to his 
children. Driven out of Eden, he began the transmission of his 
species. Adam called his first-born Cain, and had other sons and 
daughters during his life, two of the former, Abel and Seth, being men- 
tioned by name in the sacred narrative. Through Seth were descended 
the people whose history we are about to relate. Seth begat a son whom 
he called Enos, who, in his turn, begat Cainan, who begat Mahalaleel, 
who begat Jared, who begat Enoch,who, after begetting Methuselah,was 
translated to heaven as being too good to remain on earth. Methuse- 
lah begat Lamech, and Lamech begat Noah. Noah was the ninth in 
direct descent from Adam, and was born but a little more than a cen- 
tury after the death of Adam. His own father was a young man at 
the time of the death of the great ancestor of the human race, and 
was probably acquainted with him. Noah was a just man and feared 
God, and it pleased God to select him and his family as the persons 
appointed to continue the race begun in Adam. After the subsidence 
of the great flood, which God sent upon the earth to destroy the hu- 
man race, which had become so corrupt that he could no longer permit 
it to exist, Noah was sent to warn the people of their impending doom. 
But they refused to hear him, and the flood came, and they were de- 
stroyed. Only Noah and his family, eight persons in all, with a cer- 
tain number of every living thing of the animal kingdom, were 
saved, and this only by taking refuge in an ark which the patriarch 
had built, according to the command of God. The flood destroyed 
everything that was upon the face of the earth. 

When the waters went down, God commanded Noah to lead his 
family out of the ark, and he left it, followed by all the creatures who 
had been preserved with him. God then promised Noah that he 
would no more destroy the earth by water, and gave him a series of 
laws by which he and his descendants were to be governed. The 
sons of Noah were three in number — Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 1B1 

Shem was the most highly favored of these, in being the one through 
whom the seed promised to the first woman was descended. He be- 
came the father of Arphaxad, who begat Salah, who begat Eber, who 
begat Peleg, who begat lieu, who begat Serug, who begat N ahor, who 
begat Terah, who in his turn begat a son called Abram. 'Noah lived 
for three hundred and fifty years after the flood, and died only two 
years before the birth of Abram. 

Abram was the tenth in descent from Noah, and the twentieth from 
Adam. He was the son of a man of importance, and was born in 
Ur of the Chaldees. His family were idolaters, but he remained 
faithful to the worship of the Creator. When Abram was seventy- 
five years old, God commanded him to separate himself from his rela- 
tives, who were idolaters, and go into a country which he would show 
him and give him for an inheritance for his children. Abram, al- 
though old and childless, did not hesitate to obey God's command, and 
crossing the Euphrates entered the land of Palestine, where he lived 
a nomadic life. He was called the Hebrew, or the man who crossed 
the river (Euphrates), by the natives, and was a powerful chief, rich in 
herds, flocks and retainers. He kept his house faithful to God, who 
at various times communicated his will to him, and at length ratified 
his promises by a covenant, the sign of which, on the part of Abram 
and his descendants, was the rite of circumcision. The patriarch's 
name was changed to Abraham (father of a nation), and that of his 
barren wife to Sarah (princess). 

Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah, and the heir of so many 
promises, was born at length. He had two sons, Esau and Jacob. 
The latter fraudulently obtained the blessing of his father, and became 
the heir of the promises. 

Jacob had twelve sons, but his favorite was Joseph, the son of his 
beloved Rachel. On him he lavished such tenderness that the lad 
became the object of his brothers' Jiatred, and upon a convenient oc- 
casion they seized him and sold him into Egypt, as a slave. It 
pleased God, however, to make the young captive the instrument of 
accomplishing a part of the great design concerning Israel, which he 
had revealed to Abraham. Joseph found favor with the king of 
Egypt, and was exalted to the second place in the kingdom. At the 
height of his power, he was enabled to relieve the distress of his 
father and brethren, and to provide them with a home in the finest 
part of the Egyptian kingdom. Here Jacob died, and his children 
carried his body back to the promised land, with great pomp, and 
47 ' 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



buried it in the sepulchre of his fathers. As long as Joseph lived lit 
protected and cherished his brethren and their children, but after his 
death, the Egyptians oppressed them very heavily, and finally de- 
graded them to the condition of slaves. They greatly overtasked 
them, and compelled them to engage in building the great public 
works of the kingdom, while the fear of their joining a foreign 
enemy, led one of the Egyptian tyrants to decree what may be called 
their slow extermination, they having in the meanwhile increased to a 
prodigious number. 

At length, when their bondage was at its height and their oppres- 
sions were heaviest, it pleased God to raise them up a deliverer in the 
person of Moses, the younger son of Amram, of the tribe of Levi. 
The love of his mother and the compassion of the daughter of the 
king of Egypt, enabled the infant Moses to escape the fate denounced 
by the Pharaoh against all the males of his race, and he was brought 
up at the royal court as the son of the princess, and educated in all 
the learning of the Egyptians. Upon reaching his manhood, the 
sufferings of his countrymen began to enlist his sympathy, and finally 
goaded him on to the killing of an Egyptian whom he caught in the 
act of flogging a Hebrew. This act made it necessary for him to 
quit the country. He fled to Midian, where he married Zipporah, 
daughter of Jethro, the prince of Midian. Here he kept the flocks 
of his father-in-law, in the peninsula of Sinai, which is located in the 
southern part of the Arabian peninsula. Here God appeared to hiir, 
and informed him of his purpose to redeem his promise to Abraham 
and to lead Israel back into the land of their fathers. He com- 
manded Moses to make this known to his people, instructed him what 
to say, and how to demand of the Pharaoh permission for the Hebrews 
to leave Egypt. Moses professing his inability to speak Avell in the 
discharge of so great a commission, God gave him his brother Aaron 
as his spokesman. 

Moses repaired to Egypt, meeting Aaron on the way, communicated 
his mission to the people, who acknowledged the God of their fathers, 
and professed their willingness to obey his will as revealed by Moses 
and Aaron. The king, however, did not listen so willingly. He 
not only refused to let the Hebrews go, but increased their burdens, 
and a reluctant consent was only wrung from him by a series of 
plagues so terrible and destructive that they were manifestly the pun- 
ishments sent by an all-powerful and glorious God. Before the con- 
sent of the king was given, th« solemn feast of the Passover was es- 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 739 




GOD'S PROMISE TO ABRAHAM. 

tfeblished by the Israelites, to be a perpetual memorial of the goodness 
and power of God in leading them out of their bondage. When tire 
last and most terrible plague of all had wrung from the king his as- 
sent to the proposed exodus of the Israelites, the people set out in 
haste, 2,500,000 strong, under the guidance of Moses, their move- 
ments being directed by Jehovah himself. They marched straight to 
the Red Sea, and as they drew near it found they were pursued by 
the army of the Egyptians, led by the king in person. God again 
manifested his power and love by making them a way through the 
Red Sea, across which they passed dry shod, and by causing the 
waters to overwhelm and destroy the Egyptians who essayed to follow 
them. From the Red Sea, the march was continued to Mount Sinai, 
in Arabia, where God had appeared to Moses. Here a halt of eleven 
months and twenty days was made, and during this time God gave 
them, through Moses, the law by which they were to be governed, its 
delivery being accompanied by the most overpowering and magnifi- 
cent display of his majesty and glory. 

"This divine decalogue," says an accomplished writer, "not only 
contained the common fundamental points of every legal code 
(' Honor thy father and mother/ ' Thou shalt not murder/ etc.), but 
also included the sublime truth of monotheism, the great social insti- 
tution of the Sabbath, and the lofty moral precept, ' Thou shalt not 
covet/ These Commandments, which formed the basis of a covenant 




740 



- HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



741 



between God and Israel, together with the successively promulgated 
statutes, precepts, etc., constitute the Mosaic law, which is contained 
principally in the second and third, and repeated in the fifth book of the 
Pentateuch, and which for about fifteen centuries remained, and with 
the exception of a strictly national part still is, the general code of the 
Hebrews. Its aims are the moral perfection of the individual, and 
the welfare of society. Its means are chiefly a common and central 
worship, under the direction of the Aaronites, whose restrictive obli- 
gations are, however, not equalled by the privileges they enjoy; three 
festivals for the commemoration of great national events, thanksgiv- 
ing and rejoicing, as well as for the annual gathering of the whole 
people; a fast day for repentance; periodical readings of the law; 
general education through the Levites, its guardians ; a weekly day 
of rest (Sabbath) for the people and their animals ; the seventh year 
as a periodical time of rest for the earth, as well as for the extinction 
of various pecuniary claims ; numerous and most frequently repeated 
obligations for the support of the fatherless and widow, the poor and 
the stranger; an organized judiciary and police; a severe penal code; 
strict rules for the preservation of health and cleanliness; circumcision 
as a bodily mark of the covenant ; and numerous other rites and cere- 
monies designed to guard the nationality, or to lead to the preserva- 
tion of truths and principles. The spirit of the whole was well 
defined by Rabbi Hillel in his words to a heathen who desired to be 
instructed in Judaism in a few minutes : ' "Do not to others what you 
would not have others do to you," is the essence ; everything else is 
but comment.' The chief principles are : self-sanctificadon and 
righteousness, in imitation of God, who is holy and righteous; 
brotherly love and equality, for all people are his children ; freedom, 
for all are bound exclusively to his service; limited right of property, 
for the whole land belongs to him. The principal promise of reward 
is the natural share of the individual in the happiness of society ; the 
principal threat of celestial punishment, his natural share in its mis- 
fortunes ; every mention of reward beyond the grave, which, in the 
time of Moses, had long been a chief element in the teachings of 
Egyptian and other priests, is avoided throughout, probably as pro- 
moting selfishness in a rude state of society bv referring exclusively to 
the individual. The form of government is the republican (though a 
limited monarchy may be established if the people demand it), with 
the moral theocratic dictatorship of a prophet like the lawgiver, with 
rhe sovereignty of the people who judge the merits and claims of the 



742 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. ♦ 



prophet above it, and above all the majesty of the divine law, which 
can be explained and developed, but not altered. The whole system 
is entirely practical, containing no definitions of supernatural things, 
except in a negative form, no articles of belief, no formulas of 
prayer." 

Moses remained on the mount, in communion with God, for fortv 
days. During his absence the people became discontented. The 
stony wilderness was not so pleasant as the land of Egypt, provisions 

were scarce, and wa- 
ter could scarcely be 
had. They began to 
think that Moses had 
been taken away from 
them, and would re- 
turn no more; and, 
in spite of the won- 
derful manifestations 
of God's power and 
care for them, which 
they had enjoyed, 
idolatrous notions 
began to prevail 
amongst them, and 
finally they broke 
into open revolt 
against God, and re- 
quired Aaron to make 
them a golden calf, 
that they might wor- 
ship it. Moses, still 
on the mountain, was 
informed by the Al- 
mighty of the sin of the people, and of the Lord's resolve to destroy 
them, and make him a new nation, and at once began to plead for 
them. God heard his prayer, and promised to stay his hand. Moses 
then descended from the mount with the tables of the law, and broke 
them in his anger at the wickedness of the people. He restored order 
in the camp by putting the idolaters to death, but was overcome with 
despair for the success of his mission. Then he removed the Taber- 
nacle out of the camp, and there God manifested his presence, and 




MOSES RECEIVING THE LAW. 



HISTORY 



OF THE JEWS. 



T43 




SOUTHEAST VIEW OF THE TABERNACLE. 

made known his will to Moses, who was commanded once more to go 
up into the mountain, and receive the law. This he did, remaining 
forty days again, and when he came down his countenance shone so 
with the reflected glory of heaven that the people could not look upon 
it, and he was obliged to cover it with a veil. 

Together with the Ten Commandments, God revealed to Moses 
every particular of the civil code of the Hebrews, and of the gorgeous 
ritual by which their worship was distinguished. The Tabernacle 
was soon after built according to the divine command, and in it were 
placed the tables of the law, and the Ark, and the Mercy Seat, 
and over the whole structure there rested a brilliant cloud, the visible 
manifestation of the glory of God. 

From Sinai, the Israelites marched to the borders of Palestine. 
Spies were sent out by Moses to explore the land. They were twelve 
of the principal men of the nation, whose position would command 
the confidence of the people in their report. They searched the land 
for forty days, and found it as the Garden of Eden in beauty and 
fertility; but, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua, they were 
alarmed at the strength and enormous size of the people, and the 
massiveness of their fortified cities. Their fears had more influence 
with the Israelites than their statements of the fatness of the land, 
and in spite of the entreaties of Moses and Aaron, and the earnest 
assurances of Joshua and Caleb, the people positively refused to enter 
the promised land. They even proposed to elect a captain and return 
to Egypt, and were about to stone Moses and Aaron and Joshua anil 



744 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



Caleb, when the glory of the Lord suddenly blazed forth from the 
Tabernacle, and the Almighty, calling Moses to him, declared his 
purpose to disinherit Israel, and make him a nation. Moses again 
interceded with the people, and was successful. God agreed to try 
them still farther; but for their sin, in refusing to enter the promised 
land, declared that not one of those who had refused to trust to and 
obey him should enter that land. The execution of the sentence was 
to begin on the morrow, by their turning into the Wilderness by the 
way of the Eed Sea. There they were to wander for forty years — a 
year for each day that the spies had searched the land — till all the 
men of twenty years old and upward had left their carcasses in the 
desert ; and then at length their children, having shared their wan- 
derings, should enter on their inheritance. As an earnest of the 
judgment, the ten faithless spies were slain by a plague. 

During all these long years, the people were led by God, and provided 
by him with such things as were necessary to their health and safety. 
Moses continued to lead them, and to make intercession for them in 
their frequent sins against their King. At the close of the forty years, 
he led them to the borders of the Land of Promise, and there trans- 
ferred his office as leader and prophet to Joshua ; and, having re- 
hearsed all the laws of the Almighty to the people, and put them in 
mind of the love and goodness of which they had been the object, he 
ascended Mount Nebo, from which he was permitted to view the land, 
and there he died, and " God buried him." 

Joshua led the people over Jordan, the waters of which rolled back, 
as those of the Red Sea- had done forty years before, and the people 
passed over dry shod. The land had been divided by Moses before 
his death, and the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of 
Manasseh, were given their inheritance east of the Jordan, the inhab- 
itants of the country having been conquered and driven out. This 
portion of Israel was bound, however, to assist in the conquest of the 
rest of the land, with which engagement they gallantly complied. 
The rest of the land was afterwards divided between the tribes of the 
remaining sons of Jacob, with the exception of that of Levi, and the 
tribe of Ephraim, the son of Joseph, and the half tribe of his brother 
Manasseh. These tribes, under the leadership of Joshua, conquered 
the land, after a bloody war of extermination, and entered upon their 
possessions. The Levites were given no particular portion of the 
country, but had an inheritance in each and every tribe, as being 
specially set apart to the service of the Lord. Before his death, Joshua 



146 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



summoned all Israel to a solemn assembly at Shechem, in which they 
bound themselves and their children by a new covenant to serve the 
God of their fathers, who had given them the victory over their 
enemies. This covenant they observed until the death of Joshua and 
the elders who had witnessed the whole work of deliverance. Then 
they fell into idolatry and wickedness. 

" Parts of the country remained unconquered, principally in the 
hands of the Phoenicians, in the N. W\, of the Philistines in the 
S. W., and of the Jebusites in the centre. With these, and with other 
neighbors on the borders, frequent warfare had to be waged, while 
the young state, forming a confederacy of twelve, (or counting Manasseh 
as two, of thirteen,) almost independent members had neither natural 
boundaries nor a capital, neither a hereditary head, nor an elective 
federal government, the only bond of union being the common law, 
and the only centre the seat of the ark of the covenant, whose guardi- 
ans, probably, enjoyed the privilege of convoking a general assembly 
of the people in cases of urgent necessity. Such national assemblies 
were often held at Mizpah. But the enmity and frequent attacks of 
the surrounding idolatrous tribes was less pernicious than their 
friendly relations in times of peace, when the voluptuous rites con- 
nected with the worship of Ashtoreth and other divinities of the Phoe- 
nicians, Syrians, and Philistines, were too seductive for a people in an 
undeveloped state, whose own religion required a rigid observance of 
strict morality. To remedy these evils, heroic and inspired men 
arose from time to time, repulsed the enemies, restored order and the 
law, Avere acknowledged as leaders and judges, at least by a part of 
the people, and thus revived its unity. This period of republican fed- 
eralism, under judges, is described in the book of that name — a con- 
tinuation of the Book of Joshua — and forms one of the most interesting 
portions of Hebrew history. Othniel, a younger brother or nepheAV 
of Caleb, of the tribe of Judah, was the first of the judges. Ehud, a 
Benjamite, delivered Israel from the oppression of the Moabites, hav- 
ing killed with his own left hand E^lon, the king of the invaders. 
'After him was Shamgar, the son of Anath, who slew of the Philistines 
600 men with an ox-goad/ at a time when 'no shield was seen, or a 
spear among 40,000 in Israel/ Barak, a Naphtalite, inspired by De- 
borah, a female prophet and judge, gained, together with her, a signal 
victory near Mount Tabor and the brook Kishon, over the army of 
Sisera, commander of Jabin, a Canaanite king on the north of Pales- 
tine, which numbered 900 iron w T ar-chariots f Sisera fled, but was 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



747 



killed in sleep by Jael, a woman of the Nomadic and neutral Kenite 
tribe, in whose tent he had sought refuge. Gideon, characterized as 
the youngest son of one of the weakest families in Manasseh, surprised 
with 300 select men, the immense camp of the Midianites and 
Amalekites, dispersed them, called the surroundimg tribes to arms, 
exterminated the invaders, appeased the Ephraimites, who were jeal- 
ous of the glory gained by their neighbors, and refused to accept the 
royal dignity offered him by the gratitude of the people. Abimelech, 
however, his son by a concubine, gained adherents among the idola- 
trous friends of his mother in Shechem, destroyed the numerous 
family of his father, was proclaimed king in that city, was afterwards 
expelled, but reconquered the city, and finally perished while be- 
sieging the tower of the neighboring Thebez, by a piece of mill-stone 
cast from its top by a woman. Of the judges Tola, of the tribe of 
Issachar, and from Gilead in Manasseh beyond the Jordan, little more 
is preserved than their names. Jephthah, another Gileadite of ille- 
gitimate birth, having been expelled from his home, was recalled by 
his native district to combat against the Ammonites, who had attacked 
it, and carried the war into the land of the enemy, and returned after 
a signal victory, of which his heroic daughter, in consequence of a 
vow, became a victim, being doomed to die or to live unmarried in 
loneliness, the obscurity of the narrative rendering this point uncer- 
tain. The Ephraimites, who had not been called to participate in the 
combat, now threatened vengeance on the conqueror, who, unlike 
Gideon, terminated the quarrel with a bloody defeat of the trouble- 
some tribe, which is the first example of civil war among the Israel- 
ites, soon to be followed by others. Ibzan, of Bethlehem-in-Judah, 
Elon, a Zebulunite, and Abdon, an Ephraimite, are next briefly 
mentioned as judges. Dan, too, gave Israel a judge in the person of 
Samson, who braved and humiliated the Philistines ; he was a rsaza- 
rite of prodigious strength, whose adventurous exploits in life and 
death greatly resemble those of the legendary heroes of Greece. The 
greatest anarchy now prevailed. The Danites not having yet con- 
quered their territory, 600 men among them made an independent 
expedition north, and conquered a peaceful town of the Phoenicians, 
Laish, which was by them named Dan, and is henceforth mentioned 
as the northernmost town of the whole country, the opposite southern 
point being Beersheba. The concubine of a Levite having been out- 
raged to death on a passage through Gibeah, in Benjamin, by some 
inhabitants of that place, her husband cut her corpse into pieces, and 



748 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



sent them to all the tribes, calling for vengeance. The people as- 
sembled at Mizpah, and demanded from Benjamin the surrender of 
the criminals. The Benjamites refused to obey what they probably 
regarded as a usurpation by the confederacy of their sovereign rights, 
and a bloody civil war ensued, in which they were nearly extermi- 
nated, after a heroic struggle against overwhelming forces. The 
people wept over their fratricidal victory, and 600 Benjamites, who 
alone survived, were allowed to seize wives (for the victors had sworn 
not to give them any) from among the girls dancing in the valley of 
Shiloh, on a sacred festival annually celebrated there." 

The last of the judges was the prophet Samuel. He restored the 
worship of God in its purity, brought back the ark, established schools 
of the prophets, and routed the Philistines. He is one of the grandest 
characters in Israel, but his sons, whom he called in his old age to 
assist him in the government, were corrupt and wicked. The people 
became thoroughly dissatisfied, and demanded a king. - Samuel 
warned them that a change from the Mosaic form of government was 
a virtual repudiation of the divine rule, that God had done more for 
them and would still do more than any human monarch could ; but 
his words were in vain, the people persisted in their demands, and 
the prophet was directed to anoint Saul, the son of Kish, a Benjam- 
ite, king over Israel. 

Under Saul, Gibeah was made the capital of the kingdom. Jona- 
than, the son of the king, became famous as a soldier, the command 
of the army was given to Abner, the king's cousin, and a series of 
victories over the Ammonites, Moabites, Idumseans, Syrians and 
Philistines, had the effect of bringing peace to the consolidated king- 
dom. In the war with the Amalekites, Saul refused to be guided by 
the advice of Samuel, who spake by inspiration, and though successful, 
incurred the displeasure of heaven. Samuel withdrew his support 
from him, and the madness which darkened the rest of the king's life, 
began to show itself. David, a young shepherd from Bethlehem in 
Judah, and a sweet musician, was summoned to soothe the king's mal- 
ady with his music. Some time after this, he drew upon himself the 
jealousy of Saul by his victory over the famous Philistine giant Go- 
liath, which decided a campaign. Saul gave him his daughter in 
marriage, and Jonathan became his fast friend. Saul's madness in- 
creased, and he passed the rest of his life in pursuing David, whom 
he forced to become an outlaw and chief of a powerful band, he com- 
mitted many crimes, and finally perished by his own sword in his 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 74* 

flio-lit from the fatal field of Gilboa, where Jonathan and two of his 
other sons had been slain. 

David, long since anointed by Samuel as the successor of Saul, be- 
moaned his dead foe as well as his dearly-loved Jonathan, in an out- 
burst of matchless poetry. He went at once to Hebron, where he 
was anointed king by the tribe of Judah. Abner had already pro- 
claimed Saul's surviving son, Ishbosheth, king, and all the other 
tribes had acknowledged him. A bloody war ensued between the ri- 
vals, David's cause gaining ground every day. At length, Abner 
and Ishbosheth being slain by private enemies, all opposition was re- 
moved, and all Israel acknowledged him king. He was emphatically 
the greatest monarch 
that ever sat on the 
Hebrew throne. As 
a warrior he had no 
equal, as a statesman 
he was never sur- 
passed, as a poet and 
musician he stands 
to-day amongst the 
most gifted of any 
age or clime, and as 
a man he claims and 
receives our warmest 
admiration and most 
earnest sympathy. 
He conquered the 
stronghold of the 
Jebusites, and undet 
the name of Jerusa- 
lem made it the cap- 
ital of his kingdom. He made his power felt all around him, brought 
his kingdom to a state of prosperity and power such as it had never 
known before, he organized the national worship, and won the alli- 
ance and friendship of his most powerful neighbors. His reign was 
several times disturbed by the rebellions of his sons, and his private 
life was stained with several crimes. Yet, though he often erred, his 
heart was never wholly astray from God, and his penitence was ac- 
cepted. His very faults increase our sympathy with him, as being 
the errors of a noble, though defective nature. David's reign, which 




MOLOCH. 



HISTORY 0 E THE JEWS. 



lasted forty years, may be called the Golden Age of Israel, but a brief 
portion of the succeeding meriting that title. 

He was succeeded by his son, Solomon, who also reigned forty 
years. No foreign wars or internal struggles disturbed this reign, 
but it was a period of profound peace. David had accumulated great 
wealth, which he left to his son, and the only use that was made of 
the magnificent army by Solomon was to secure tribute from his neigh- 
bors, and preserve peace in the kingdom. He used the treasures of 
his father and those which he himself had acquired for the improve- 
ment of the country. Pie built the city of Palmyra (Tadmor) in the 
desert, and other cities, and engaged largely in mercantile ventures 
with Hiram, king of the Phoenician city of Tyre. His most famous 
work was the Temple to Jehovah, which he built at Jerusalem, and 
upon which he lavished immense sums. It was one of the grandest 
and costliest buildings the world has ever seen, and was dedicated 
with the most impressive solemnities, the glory of the Lord de- 
scending upon and filling the house at the conclusion of the cere- 
monies. 

The wisdom of Solomon, the special gift of the Almighty, distin- 
guishes him to-day amongst men, and during his reign drew admiring 
visitors from all parts of the world. A number of his proverbs and 
two of his books of poems are still left, and form one of the most at- 
tractive portions of the Bible. " But, on the other hand, while the 
mighty monarch was teaching wisdom in admired works of literature, 
his personal example taught extravagance and folly. His court was 
as corrupt as it was splendid. The magnificence which he exhibited 
was not exclusively the product of foreign gold, tribute, and presents, 
but in part based on the taxes of his subjects. The army served not 
only to secure peace, but also as a tool of oppression. The public 
structures were built with the sweat of his people. Xear the national 
temple, on Mount Moriah, altars and mounds were erected for the 
worship of Ashtoreth, Moloch, and other idols, introduced by some 
of his numberless wives from their native countries, Phoenicia, the 
land of Ammon, Idumaea, and Egypt. Rezon was suffered to establish 
a hostile dynasty in Damascus, and Hadad to make himself inde- 
pendent in Idumsea." 

The kingdom was exhausted at the death of Solomon, and the 
people, with one voice, demanded, when they had assembled at 
Shechem to declare his son Rehoboam king, that their burdens should 
be lightened very considerably. The former counsellors of Solomon 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. T51 

advised his successor to yield to the pressure for the present ; but he 
refused to listen to them, and, prompted by his rash young friends, 
declared that he would not lighten the people's burdens, but Ivould 
chastise them into obedience if they resisted. The consequence of 
this mad act was a revolt of ten tribes, and the flight of Behoboam 
from the furious people. Only Judah and Benjamin remained faith- 
ful to him, and he returned to Jerusalem to collect an army for the 
purpose of conquering his revolted subjects. He was turned from 
his intention, however, by the prophet Shemaiah, who, in the name 
of God, forbade the people to go to war with each other. 

This separation was final. The country north of Benjamin and 
that east of the Jordan w T as known thenceforth as the kingdom of 
Israel. The land of Judah and Benjamin was called the kingdom 
of Judah, and continued in possession of the capital, Jerusalem. 
The capital of Israel was at first Shechem, then Tirzah, and finally 
Samaria. 

The kingdom of Israel developed no new power. It was but a 
portion of David's kingdom deprived of many elements of strength. 
Its frontier Avas as open and as widely extended as before ; but it 
wanted a capital for the seat of organized power. Its territory was 
as fertile and as tempting to the spoiler, but its people were less 
united and patriotic, and a corrupt religion poisoned the national life. 
It lasted 254 years. 

The leader of the revolt of the Ten Tribes was Jeroboam, an 
Ephraimite, who had alreadv attempted an insurrection against Solo- 
mon. He had returned from Egypt, where he had been an exile, 
and had headed the delegation to Rehoboam. He was made king by 
the revolted tribes B. C. 975, but had not sufficient force of character 
in himself to make a lasting impression on his people. A king, but 
not a founder of a dynasty, he aimed at nothing beyond securing his 
present elevation. The army soon learned its power to dictate to the 
isolated monarch and disunited people. Baasha, in the midst of the 
army at Gibbethon, slew the son and successor of Jeroboam ; Zimri, 
a captain of chariots, slew the son and successor of Baasha ; Omri, the 
captain of the host, was chosen to punish Zimri ; and after a civil 
war of four years he prevailed over Tibni, the choice of half the 
people. For forty-five years Israel was governed by the house of 
Omri. That sagacious king pitched on the strong hill of Samaria as 
the site of his capital. The princes of his house cultivated an alli- 
ance with the kings of Judah, which was cemented by the marriage 



752 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



of Jehoram and Athaliah. The adoption of Baal-worship led to a re- 
action in the nation, to the moral triumph of the prophets in the 
person of Elijah, and to the extinction of the house of Ahab in obedi- 
ence to the bidding of Elisha. Unparalleled triumphs, but deeper 
humiliation, awaited the kingdom of Israel under the dynasty of Jehu. 
Hazael, the ablest king of Damascus, reduced Jehoahaz to the condi- 
tion of a vassal, and triumphed for a time over both the disunited 
Hebrew kingdoms. Almost the first sign of the restoration of their 
strength was a war between them; and Jehoash, the grandson of Jehu, 
entered Jerusalem as the conqueror of Amaziah. Jehoash a!>o turned 
the tide of war against the Syrians ; and Jeroboam II., the most pow- 
erful of all the kings of Israel, captured Damascus, and recovered the 
whole ancient frontier from Hamath to the Dead Sea. This short- 
lived greatness expired with the last king of Jehu's line. Military 
violence, it would seem, broke off the hereditary succession after the 
obscure and probably convulsed reign of Zachariah. An unsuccessful 
usurper, Shallum, is followed by the cruel Menahem, who, being un- 
able to make head against the first attack of Assyria under Pul, be- 
came the agent of that monarch for the oppressive taxation of his 
subjects. Yet his power at home was sufficient to insure for his son 
and successor, Pekah iah, a ten years' reign, cut short by a bold 
usurper, Pekah. Abandoning the northern and transjordanic regions 
to the encroaching power of Assyria under Tiglath-Pilescr, he was 
very near subjugating Judah, with the help of Damascus, now the co- 
equal ally of Israel. But Assyria interposing summarily put an end 
to the independence of Damascus, and perhaps was the indirect cause 
of the assassination of the baffled Pekah. The irresolute Hoshea, the 
next and last usurper, became tributary to his invader, Shalmaneser 
betrayed the Assyrian to the rival monarchy of Egypt, and was pun- 
ished by the loss of his liberty, and by the capture, after a three years' 
siege, of his strong capital, Samaria. Some gleanings of the Ten 
Tribes yet remained in the land after so many years of religious de- 
cline, moral debasement, national degradation, anarchy, bloodshed, 
and deportation ; but these soon disappeared by intermingling with 
the neighboring people, and, with the final overthrow of the kingdom 
of Israel, the Ten Tribes are lost to history. 

Upon the separation of the land into two kingdoms, the territories 
of Simeon and Dan were recognized as belonging to Judah, and in the 
reigns of Ahab and Asa, the southern kingdom was enlarged by some 
additions taken out of the territory of Ephraim. 

The kingdom of Judah possessed many advantages, which secured 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 753 

9 

for it a longer continuance than that of Israel. A frontier less exposed t® 
powerful enemies, a soil less feritle, a population hardier and more 
united, a fixed and venerated centre of administration and religion, 
an hereditary aristocracy in the sacerdotal order — an army always 
subordinate — a succession of kings which no revolution interrupted — 
to these, and other secondary causes, is to be attributed the fact that 
Judah survived her more populous and more powerful sister kingdom 
by one hundred and thirty-five years, and lasted from B. C. 975, to 
B. C. 536. The first three kings of Judah seem to have cherished the 
hope of re-establishing their authority over the Ten Tribes. For 
sixty years there was war between them and the kings of Israel. 
The victory achieved by the daring Abijah brought to Judah a tem- 
porary accession of territory. Asa appears to have enlarged it still 
farther. Hanani's remonstrance prepares us for the reversal by Je- 
hoshaphat of the policy which Asa pursued towards Israel and Damas- 
cus. A close alliance sprang up with strange rapidity between Jud? !i 
and Israel. Jehoshaphat, active and prosperous, repelled nomad 
invaders from the desert, curbed the aggressive spirit of his nearer 
neighbors, and made his influence felt even among the Philistines 
and Arabians. Amaziah, flushed with the recovery of Edom, pro- 
voked a war with his more powerful contemporary, Jehoash, the con- 
queror of the Syrians; and Jerusalem w r as entered and plundered by 
the Israelites. Under Uzziah and Jotham, Judah long enjoyed po- 
litical and religious prosperity, till Ahaz became the tributary and 
vassal of Tiglath-Pileser. Already in the fatal grasp of Assyria, 
Judah was yet spared for a checkered existence of almost another cen- 
tury and a half after the termination of the kingdom of Israel. 
This opportunity for repentance, however, was neglected. Idolatry 
flourished in the land, and its altars were even set up on Mount. 
Moriah. The prophets were slain, and their prophecies publicly 
burned. Judah was conquered by the Egyptians, and finally passed 
under the dominion of Babylon by the voluntary surrender of Jehoia- 
chin. Zedekiah revolted against Nebuchadnezzar; and B. C. 588, 
Jerusalem was captured after a desperate siege. The city was plun- 
dered. The sacred vessels and treasures of the temple were carried 
away — the temple itself, and the walls and palaces of the city were 
burned down — and its wealthy and prominent citizens, and their 
families, carried in chains to Babylon. Jehoiachin was deprived 
of his eyes, after having seen the slaughter of his children, and was 
sent in chains to Babylon. 
48 



T54 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



Nebuchadnezzar spared Jeremiah, the prophet, who had warned 
the king of Judah against his rebellion, and had predicted the result, 
and was allowed to remain at Mizpah with Gedaliah, who was made 
the viceroy of the king of Babylon ; and around him gathered all 
that was left of the nation. Gedaliah was appointed soon after, and 
the survivors of the Jewish nation, Avith Jeremiah, fled into Egypt. 
The prophet warned them against this step, assuring them that they 
would be pursued even into that country by the conquerors. His 
prediction was fulfilled in the invasion of Egypt by the Babylonians. 

The captivity of the Jews was a grievous one, and lasted for 
seventy years. At the end of that time the city of Babylon was 
taken by Cyrus, the Persian Conqueror, who generously allowed the 
Jews to return to their pwn country. They assembled for that pur- 
pose forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty in number, and set 
out for Jerusalem under the leadership of Zerubbabel, a descendant 
of the royal line. Upon reaching Judea, they were joined by those 
of the common people, and cultivators of the soil, who had been 
allowed by Nebuchadnezzar to remain in their native land. They 
at once commenced the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple; and 
were requested by the Samaritans, who occupied a portion of the 
former kingdom of Israel, and claimed to be lineally descended from 
the Ten Tribes, to allow them to participate in the work ; but as 
the Jews looked upon the Samaritans as alien colonists, and not pure- 
blooded Israelites, this request was refused. The Samaritans then 
sought to obstruct the work by various means, and particularly by 
caluminating the Jews at the Persian court, so that it was not until 
the reign of Darius that the work was allowed to go on unmolested. 

The captivity taught Judah a severe but needed lesson. The stu- 
dent of sacred history cannot lose sight of the fact that the monarchi- 
cal form of government amongst the children of Israel, was a de- 
parture from the will of God. The attempt to consolidate the nation 
violated the constitution of the Church. Though, on the great prin- 
ciple of condescension and forbearance, God made this defection the 
occasion of His new covenant with David, the inherent vices of the 
monarchy broke out into that long course of idolatry and worldly 
pride, which was cut short by the captivity of both branches of the 
nation. After the captivity we hear no more of these forms of evil. 
Their severe experience in the Babylonish kingdom had the effect of 
attaching the Jews more firmly to their country and its institutions, 
and effectually cured them of idolatry. They abandoned their prac- 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



755 



tice of intermarrying with foreigners, and became more clannish and 
exclusive in all their ways than they had ever been. They now 
began to look for the Messiah which had been promised them, 
and the great sect of the Chasadim or Pharisees, founded upon the 
doctrine of the immortality of the soul, now came into great promi- 
nence. 

Under the Persian kings the Jews were treated with great mildness. 
They were merely nominal vassals in most things. The High Priest 
was allowed to act as their chief magistrate, and they were permitted 
to manage their own affairs. They devoted themselves to increasing 
their material prosperity, and were content with their limited terri- 
tory. They increased rapidly in numbers and in wealth, and for two 
centuries might have been said to live retired from the world. Alex- 
ander the Great invaded Syria, after the battle of Issus, B. C. 333, 
but spared Jerusalem, upon its prompt submission to him. After his 
death, the city passed under the dominion of Egypt once more, and 
the Ptolemies not only showed it great favor, but established colonies 
of Jews in their dominions, especially at Alexandria, their capital. 

While subject to the Grecian Empire, the Greek language became 
common in Judaea, and the Greek translation of the Pentateuch was 
used in the synagogues of that country. Greek manners and notions 
prevailed to an extent sufficient to give them considerable influence 
upon the nation from this time forward. 

"Ptolemy II., Philadelphia (B. C. 285-46), was especially favor- 
able to the Jews. Under his successors, however, Judsea grew impa- 
tient of the Egyptian rule, and when Antiochus the Great, king of 
Syria, attacked young Ptolemy V., the Jews willingly aided him in 
driving the Egyptians from their land (B. C. 198) They soon had 
reason to regret this change of dynasty. The Seleucidse were bent on 
Hellenizing their empire, and were offended by the determination of 
the Jews to preserve their own national and religious peculiarities, 
the treasures, too, which had been slowly accumulating in the Tem- 
ple of Jerusalem, tempted their avarice, while they also augmented 
the number of priestly office-seekers. Tyranny and corruption 
growing together, the dignity of high priest was finally converted 
into an office for sale. One Onias was robbed of it for the benefit of 
his younger brother Jason, who offered 360 talents to the Court ot 
Syria; a third brother, Menelaus, wrested it from him by giving 300 
more, and strove to maintain himself in his usurpation by scanda- 
lously promoting the arbitrary schemes of Antiochus Epiphanes. 



T56 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



" Being driven from the city by Jason and his followers, and besieged 
in the citadel, he was rescued by Antiochus, who destroyed a part of 
the city, sold many of his opponents into slavery, and robbed the 
Temple (B. C. 170). But worse was to follow. During the second 
expedition of the Syrian king against Egypt, a false report of his 
death spread in Judaea, and Jerusalem immediately arose against his 
officers. But the Hellenizing Jews opened its gates to the returning 
king, and an unparalleled slaughter of the religious inhabitants en- 
sued (B.C. 169). Not satisfied with this, Autiochus destroyed the 
walls of the city, garrisoned a new citadel with his soldiers, and de- 
creed the general and exclusive introduction of Greek idolatry, the 
image of the king was placed in the Temple, swine were sacrificed on 
the altar, new altars were everywhere erected for the obligatory wor- 
ship of the Olympian Jupiter, the Hebrew Scriptures were burned, 
circumcision was prohibited, and every act of opposition made a cap- 
ital crime and punished with extreme cruelty. Thousands after thou- 
sands were dragged into captivity, sold as slaves, or butchered. Fi- 
nally the king departed on an expedition against the Parthian?, 
leaving the completion of his work to his general, Appollonius, the 
latter continued it in the spirit of his master, but soon met with a 
sudden check." 

There dwelt at this time in the city of Modin, an aged priest named 
Mattathias, with his five sons, John, Simon, Judas, Eleazar and Jona- 
than, besides other kindred. When the king's officers came to Mo- 
din for the purpose of compelling the people to submit to the pagan 
worship, they first called on Mattathias, as the principal man of the 
city, to earn honors and rewards by obeying the royal edict. But 
Mattathias indignantly refused, for himself, his sons, and all his 
kindred. Others were prepared to be more compliant; and one of 
them advanced to the altar, to contrast his obedience with the example 
of rebellion. Mattathias could . forbear no longer. He rushed for- 
ward, and slew the first apostate, and next the king's commissioner, 
on the altar itself, which he then pulled down ; just as his ancestor 
Phinehas had slain Zimri. He then fled with his kindred to the 
mountains, and having gathered a considerable band about him, made 
incursions into the country below, where they broke down the heathen 
altars, and killed many of their worshippers, circumcised children 
by force, and recovered many copies of the law. Mattathias soon 
died, being unable to bear so rough a life, and was succeeded by his 
heroic third son, Judas, whose great prowess gained him the surname 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



of Maceabceus (the Hammerer). He proved to Judsea what Alfred 
was to England, Bruce to Scotland, and Tell to Switzerland. His no- 
ble character, which the historian describes in glowing terms, com- 
manded the cheerful submission of his brethren and friends. By the 
greatest exertions he got together an army of 6000 men, which he 
trained by a series of surprises and night attacks. With this force 
he defeated the army of Appollonius, who marched against him from 
Samaria, slew the general, and ever afterward wore his sword. An- 
other great host led by Seron, the governor of Ccelesyria, was routed 
in the passes of Beth-horon, on the very spot where Joshua had de- 
feated the Canaanites. 

Antiochus was furious when the news of the rising under the Mac- 
cabees reached him. Though sorely pressed for funds, he advanced 
a year's pay to his army, and sent his lieutenant Lysias to exterminate 
the Jews. Judas, with a force of three thousand men, defeated the 
main body near Mizpah, inflicting upon them a loss of three thousand 
men, and forced a detachment of six thousand picked troops, which 
had been sent to surprise his camp, to retreat in disorder. The 
rich spoils of the Syrian camp, " much gold and silver, and blue silk, 
and purple of the sea, and great riches," all fell into the hands of the 
patriot army. Having kept the Sabbath which followed the victory 
with great thanksgivings, Judas crossed the Jordan, and defeated 
Timotheus and Bacchides, slaying above twenty thousand Syrians, 
and taking many of the strongholds of Gilead (B. C. 167). 

In the following year, Judas, with ten thousand men, defeated the 
army of Lysias, sixty-five thousand strong, and killed five thousand 
men, forcing Lysias to retreat to Antioch. This victory gave the 
patriots possession of the entire city of Jerusalem except the citadel. 
Judas now employed his leisure time in cleansing the temple, the 
deserted courts of which were overgrown with tall shrubs, and the 
chamber of the priests thrown down. The sacred vessels were re- 
placed from the Syrian booty, and the sanctuary was dedicated anew 
on the 25th of Chisleu (December), B..C. 166, exactly three years 
after its profanation. A festival was kept for eight days, with re- 
joicings similar to those of the Feast of Tabernacles. The solemnity 
was made a perpetual institution, and this is the " Feast of the Dedi- 
cation" mentioned by St. John as being kept in the winter. During 
this solemnity J udas had to employ a part of his forces to keep in 
check the Syrians, who still held the tower on Mount Zion. He 
afterwards secured the temple against attacks from that quarter by 



758 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



the erection of a strong wall, and towers, well manned. His suc- 
cesses having aroused the enmity of the surrounding nations, they 
began treacherously to massacre the Jews within their limits. Judas 
promptly marched against these offenders, and punished the murder- 
ers of his countrymen with fire and sword. During his absence, his 
followers were defeated in a battle in which they had engaged con- 
trary to his orders. 

Antiochus Epiphanes was succeeded by his son, Antiochus V. 
Eupator, who, with Lycias, advanced to the relief of the Syrian gar- 
rison in the citadel of Zion. With an army twelve thousand strong, 
they laid siege to Bethsura, while Judas advanced to its relief. The 
city was compelled to surrender because of famine, and Judas re- 
treated to Jerusalem. Peace was made with the Jews soon after, and 
the Syrian king was admitted into Jerusalem. The king was no sooner 
in possession of the city than he broke the terms just made by pulling 
down the new wall of Judas ; after which he retired to Antioch. His 
triumph was brief, for Demetrius, the son of Seleucus IV., whose 
rightful inheritance had been usurped by his uncle, Antiochus Epi- 
phanes, returned from Rome, where he had been a hostage, overthrew 
and put to death Antiochus and Lysias, and became king, by the title 
of Demetrius I. Soter. (B. C. 162.) Quarrels now broke out among 
the Jews concerning the succession to the office of High Priest, and 
of these the new king of Syria was quick to take advantage. He 
sent an army, under Bacchides, to compel the Jews to accept as their 
High Priest one Alcimus, the leader of the Hellenizing faction. The 
new High Priest and his supporters professed the most friendly in- 
tentions towards the Jews, but could not deceive Judas, who, while 
Bacchides set out for Antioch, leaving the High Priest as governor, 
went through the cities of Judah rallying the patriots. Alcimus 
again repaired to Antioch for help ; and Nicanor, who was sent to 
restore him, was defeated by Judas at Capharsalama. He retired to 
the citadel of Zion, where his refusal to listen to the overtures of the 
priests until Judas was delivered up to him, and his ferocious cruel- 
ties, reunited the patriots in resistance, and prayer for his overthrow. 
A battle ensued at Adasa, near Beth-horon, where Judas gained his 
most glorious victory, on the 13th of Adar (end of February, 
B. C. 161,) a day which was kept as a national festival. Nicanor was 
slain, and his head and hand were exposed as trophies at Jerusalem. 
The independence of Judasa was won, through it was not finally se- 
cured till after several years of contest and the death of all the 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



750 



Maccabsean brothers. Meanwhile, the land enjoyed a brief interval 
of rest. 

Judas now sent envoys to Rome to secure the alliance of the great 
Republic. In this the envoys were successful, but before they re- 
turned their great leader's career was closed. Demetrius had sent his 
whole force, under Bacchides, to restore Alcimus and avenge Nicanor. 
Judas could only muster 3,000 men to face the enemy's force of 
22,000, and his followers were so alarmed by the odds against them 
that 2,200 of them basely deserted their leader. Even the eight 
hundred veterans who remained faithful, urged Judas to retreat 
and await a more favorable opportunity; but the hero replied, 
" If our time be come, let us die manfully for our brethren, and let 
us not stain our honor !" With this handful, he boldly attacked the 
Syrian right wing, commanded by Bacchides in person, and defeated 
it, although it contained the bulk of that army. The Syrian left, 
however, attacked him in the rear at this juncture. The Jews were 
terribly defeated, and Judas himself was slain. 

His surviving brothers fled with their followers to the desert on 
the south of the kingdom, from which they carried on a predatory 
warfare, in which John was killed. The civil war in Syria, caused 
by the disputes which now broke out concerning the succession to the 
crown of that kingdom, gave Jonathan, and afterwards Simon, an 
opportunity of reconquering a portion of Judah. Jonathan and his 
sons were assassinated by Tryphon, after which Simon took the citadel 
of Jerusalem, and held the city. He renewed the alliance with 
Rome, and was proclaimed an independent prince. Together with 
his sons, he maintained the independence of Judsea against the at- 
tacks of Antiochus Sidetes, but was assassinated, with his sons, Judas 
and Mattathias, by his own son-in-law. He was succeeded by his 
surviving son, John Hyrcanus, who defeated the invading army of 
Antiochus Sidetes, and compelled that monarch to make peace. He 
also conquered Idumsea, and added it to his dominions, and com- 
pleted the conquest of Samaria, and destroyed that city and the 
temple ^n Mount Gerizim. He died a natural death, and was suc- 
ceeded by his son, Aristobulus (B. C. 106). "Aristobulus, who as- 
sumed the royal title, ordered the murder of his brother, Antigonus, 
while their mother was starved to death in a dungeon. Alexander 
Jannseus (B. C. 105-79,) proved equally barbarous in a war of six 
years against the majority of his people, who abhorred him as a de- 
oauched tyrant and Sadducee, and stained his victory by the execution 



760 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



©f eight hundred of the most important rebels before the eyes of his 
revelling court. Thousands sought refuge in flight, and he was al- 
lowed to continue his reign until his death, when he advised his wife 
to pursue an opposite line of policy. She accordingly chose her coun- 
cillors from among the distinguished men of the national party, and 
recalled the exiles. Of her two sons, she appointed Hyrcanus Hi^h 
Priest, keeping the political rule herself. Dissatisfied with this 
arrangement, the younger, Aristobulus, sought for support among the 
Sadducees, and, after the death of their mother (B. C. 71), a long 
civil war was waged by the two brothers, which was terminated only 
by the interference of the Romans, to whom both applied. Seaurus, 
the lieutenant of Pompey the Great, in Syria, decided for the younger 
of the brothers (B. C. 63), But Pompey soon after reversed the sen- 
tence, besieged Aristobulus in Jerusalem, took the city and the 
Temple, entering both amid streams of blood, and confirmed Hyrcanus 
as High Priest, in which capacity he became tributary etlmarch of 
the Romans. Aristobulus and his sons, Alexander and Antigonus, 
were carried captives to Rome. Judaea, with narrowed limits, was 
now a province of the Roman Republic, which was just advancing to 
its furthest boundary in the East. In the name of Hyrcanus, it was 
governed by Antipater, his crafty Idumsean minister, who ruled his 
feeble master, and was finally established himself by Caesar, after the 
fall of Pompey (B. C. 48), as Roman procurator of Judaea. But 
Aristobulus and his two sons escaped from Rome, and made desperate 
efforts to recover their dignity, but all of them perished in the suc- 
cessive attempts. Antigonus procured aid from the Parthians, who, 
Ifaving vanquished Crassus (B. C. 53,) and other Roman generals, in- 
vaded Judsea, and carried Hyrcanus into captivity. But he. finally 
succumbed to the son of Antipater, Herod, who, on his flight to 
Rome, had gained the favor of the new Triumvirs, and who now in- 
augurated under their auspices, as a powerful independent kingdom, 
the last dynasty in Judaea, the Idumaean." 

Herod I., wrongly called the Great, was a monster of cruelty and 
tyranny, yet, in many respects, one of the most remarkable men that 
ever sat on the Jewish throne. Coming of the hated race of Esau, he 
was by no means acceptable to the people, and his reign is marked by 
a series of abortive conspiracies against him. He aimed at building 
up a compact and independent kingdom, and, by flattering the pride 
of the Jew T s with this hope, gained considerable popular support. 
His aim was never accomplished, however, and he passed his whole 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



761 




THE ARK. 



life iii courting the favor and assistance of the Romans, which, in his 
heart, he designed as merely the first step to his independent sov- 
ereignty. The national religion of the Jews was degraded into an 
instrument of unscrupulous ambition, and lost its power to quicken a 
united people. The High Priests were appointed and deposed by 
Herod I., and his successors, with such a reckless disregard for the 
character of their office, that the office itself was deprived of its sacred 
dignity. 

Herod during his whole reign evinced a mortal fear of the Macca- 
baean or Asmonsean house, which still held the first place in the affec- 
tions of the Jews, and his reign was marked by numerous cruelties 
towards its members. He signalized his elevation to the throne by 
offerings to the Capitol ine Jupiter, and surrounded his person with 
foreign mercenaries, some of whom had jbeen formerly in the service 



762 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



of Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. His coins and those of his successors 
bore only Greek legends, and he introduced heathen games within the 
walls of Jerusalem. He resolved at once to show the disaffected 
people that they had a master. Massacre and confiscation were dealt 
out to the Asmonsean party. In order to cultivate the favor of the 
Jews he had put away Dolis, his wife, and had married Mariamne, 
the grand-daughter of Hyrcanus by Alexandra, her mother, and of 
Aristobulus, by Alexander, her father. By her he had two sons* 
Her mother, Alexandra, sought by every means to defeat Herod's 
schemes against the Asmonaean house, and at length so far succeeded 
that Herod was compelled to appoint her son, Aristobulus, high 
priest. The noble youth did not enjoy his high honors long. He was 
drowned by Herod's order, but in such a manner as to make it ap- 
pear that his death was accidental. The populace saw through the 
deception, and Herod was obliged to justify himself before Antony. 
The rest of his reign was spent in efforts to retain the favor of the 
Romans, and to rid himself of those members of his family whose 
existence he deemed dangerous to his own. He caused his beautiful 
and innocent wife, Mariamne, to be beheaded, and was never free 
from remorse for this act. Her murder was followed by that of her 
mother and the two sons of Herod and Mariamne. Five days before 
his death he ordered the execution of Antipas or Antipater, his son 
by another wife, and one of the chief promoters of his rage against 
the other members of his family. Many of the noblest and most 
popular of the Jewish nation fell victims to the king's cruelty, and his 
death was looked forward to by the whole people with the greatest 
eagerness. 

But while so cruel and tyrannical, he did much for the material 
prosperity of the country. He rebuilt Jerusalem to a great extent, 
and greatly adorned it, erected and fortified an immense palace for 
himself and his successors, and rebuilt the Temple on a scale of the 
greatest magnificence. The new edifice was a stately pile of the 
Gryeco-Roman architecture, built in white marble with gilded acroteria. 

In the midst of his cruelties, Herod Avas seized with a most painful 
and loathsome disease. The increasing torments of his ulcerated body, 
which derived no benefit from the warm baths of Callirhoe, drove 
him to new acts of frenzied cruelty ; and it is asserted that he caused 
the representatives of the principal families of Judaea to be shut up 
in the hippodrome at Jericho, and to be put to death as soon as he 
expired, that his funeral might not want mourners. 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



TG3 



His rage and terror were brought to a climax by a new and strange 
danger threatening the crown which had cost him so much. A cara- 
van, headed by persons of great distinction, arrived at Jerusalem, 
making the ominous inquiry, "Where is he that is born King of the 
Jews f " and declaring that the star of his nativity had guided them * 
from the distant East. These, as the reader is aware, were no other 
than the Eastern Magi, who had journeyed from afar to do homage 
to the Babe of Bethlehem, for it was while Herod lay so ill with his 
horrible disease, that the blessed Jesus was born in the city of David. 
Herod was alarmed by the inquiry of the Wise Men, for lie well 
knew the significance of that title — King of the Jews. His agitation 
was shared by all the people of Jerusalem, though doubtless from 
widely different feelings. Assembling the teachers of the law, he ob- 
tained their opinion, on the authority of the prophet Micah, that 
Bethlehem would be the birth-place of the Messiah. Secretly calling 
for the strangers, and having learned from them the precise time of 
the star's appearance, he sent them to Bethlehem, and bade them re- 
turn and inform him when they had found the babe, that he too 
might go and worship Him. Having in vain awaited their return, 
he resolved to rid himself of the hated rival by the massacre of all 
the babes in Bethlehem and its district, from the age of two years old 
and under. The consummation of this sentence, and the escape of 
the infant Jesus, have been already related in another part of this 
work. We here regard the transaction from the point of view of 
Herod's life. Vast as we know the issues at stake to have been, we 
can hardly be surprised that, amid all the horrors of Herod's last 
days, the murder of some ten or twelve children in a small country 
town, escaped the notice of the Jews at the time, and of their historian 
afterward. 

Herod's last act was to order the execution of his son, Antipater, 
which was at once performed. After using his last remnant of 
strength to give directions about his will, he expired five days after 
the death of Antipater, shortly before the Passover.* 

With the death of Herod the independence of Judaea came to an 
end. Augustus, the Roman Emperor, divided his dominions among 
his three surviving sons. Archelaus received Judaea proper, Samaria, 

* Herod's death is commonly asserted to have occurred in the year 4 B. C. 
Says Dr. Smith, "There is now no doubt that the common era of the birth of 
our Saviour is wrong by four years. Christ was born shortly before the death of 
^lerod, and we know that the latter died four years before the Christian era." 



764 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



and Idumaea, with the title of Ethnarch. Philip and Herod Antipas 
were made Tetrarchs. The former was given Bantanaea, Trachonitis, 
and Auranitis, East of the Jordan (Peraea), and the latter Galilee and 
a few unimportant additions. Archelaus was summoned to Rome, 
• after a reign of nine years, to answer to certain charges brought 
against him by his subjects. Augustus exiled him to Yienne in Gaul, 
where he died. Judaea was then made a Roman province, depend* 
ent on the prefecture of Syria. It was ruled by a Roman procurator, 
while Galilee continued under the sway of Herod Antipas, whose 
reign is made memorable by the ministry and death of our blessed 
Saviour, and his forerunner, St. John the Baptist. Herod was finally 
deposed by the Emperor Caligula, who appointed his nephew, Herod 
Agrippa, Ethnarch of Galilee. Claudius made him king of Judaea, 
and gave him all the dominions of his grandfather, Herod the Great. 
He did not live long to enjoy his good fortune, but died at Caesarea, 
A. D. 44. As there was more than one king of this name, the reader 
Avill do well to bear in mind that this is the one mentioned in Acts 
xii. His son, Herod Agrippa II., being then a youth, Judaea be- 
came again a Roman province. When young Agrippa came of age 
Claudius gave him the provinces east of the Jordan, and at a later 
period Nero added to them a part of Galilee. Although Judsea con- 
tinued to be ruled by Roman procurators, Agrippa was entrusted by 
the Emperor with the superintending of the Temple and of the 
national worship of the Jews, which included the right to appoint 
and remove the High Priest. The headquarters of the Roman Gov- 
ernor being at Caesarea, Agrippa passed a large part of his time at 
J Brusalem, and was residing in that city at the outbreak of the fatal 
v ar against the Romans. He was the king before whom Saint Paul 
•made his noble defence, which is recorded in Acts xxvi. 

In Judaea matters had been rapidly growing worse. The Roman 
Governors had driven the people to the verge of despair with their 
tyranny and rapacity. Florus, the last governor, fearful of being 
called to account before Caesar, for his crimes, endeavored to drive the 
Jews into a revolt, hoping that in the efforts to subdue them his own 
enormities would be lost sight of. Even Tacitus admits that the en- 
durance of the oppressed Jews could last no longer. 

Florus was successful in his efforts. The Jews, goaded to madness, 
paid no attention to the warning of Herod Agrippa, who told them 
of the folly of opposing Rome, and took up arms to avenge their 
wrongs. Cestius Gallus, the Prefect of Syria, who Jiad allowed the 




705 



?66 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



crimes of Floras to pass unnoticed, now endeavored to stop the dis- 
irders, but in vain. Hostilities at once began, and the Roman garri- 
son at Jerusalem was massacred by the Jews, who, in a short while, 
gained complete possession of the city. Cestius Gallus made an 
ineffectual attempt to recapture it, but was compelled to retire. The 
Jews then followed him to his camp at Scorus, and in three days 
gave him one of the most crushing defeats ever sustained by a Roman 
army. His catapults and balistse were taken from him, and reserved 
by the Jews for the final siege. This occurred on the 8th of Mar^ 
chesvan (beginning of November), A. D. 66. 

The insurrection was now general throughout Judaea, and war with 
Rome inevitable. Nero, who received the news in Greece, committed 
the conduct of the war in Judrea to his ablest general, T. Flavius 
Vespasianus (afterward the emperor), who sent his son Titus before 
him. It was evident that the siege of Jerusalem was only a question 
of time. Ananus, the High Priest, a moderate and prudent man, 
took the lead ; the walls Avere repaired, arms and Avarlike instruments 
and machines of all kinds fabricated, and other preparations made. 
In this attitude of expectation — Avith occasional diversions, such as 
the expedition to Ascalon, and the skirmishes with Simon Bar- 
Gioras — the city remained, Avhile Vespasian Avas reducing the north 
of the country, and till the fall of Giscala (Oct. or Nov. 67), Avhen 
John, the son of Levi, escaped thence to Jerusalem, to become one of 
the most prominent persons in the future conflict. Nor must Ave omit 
to mention here John's great rival, Joseph, the son of Matthias, avIio 
is best knoAvn by his adopted Roman name of Flavius Joseph us, 
the historian of the Jews and of this Avar. A priest of the most il- 
lustrious descent, distinguished alike for his ascetic piety and his 
Hebrew and Greek learning, he Avas appointed by the moderate party 
to defend Galilee and keep down the zealots. His energy in the 
latter task made him a mortal enemy to John of Giscala, while his 
brilliant, though vain, defence of Jotapata, before Avhich "Vespasian 
himself Avas Avounded, earned him the respect of the Roman chief, 
Avho attached him to his person during the Avar, used his services as a 
mediator, though to no purpose, and at last rewarded him Avith a 
grant of land in Judsea, a pension, and the Roman franchise. For 
the details of the Avar Joseph us is our only authority, most unfortu- 
nately; for, besides the natural bias toward pleasing his imperial 
patrons, his sense of the hopelessness of the Jewish cause overcame all 
patriotic sympathy with resistance to intolerable oppression, and per- 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



sonal animosity leads him to paint the zealots in the blackest colors. 
Xor is it quite needless to warn the Christian reader against judging 
the merits of the Jewish cause by the higher ends which their doom 
was destined to fulfil. 

From the arrival of John, two years and a half elapsed till Titus 
appeared before the walls of Jerusalem, which now stood alone, like 
a rock, out of the flood of conquest that had overwhelmed all the 
country. While Vespasian reduced Galilee, the Samaritans, who 
making common cause with the Jews in their extremity, had gathered 
their whole force on Mount Gerizim, and, being compelled by thirst 
to surrender to Petilius Cerealis, were treacherously massacred — Tra- 
jan, the father of the emperor, took Jamnia, the frontier fortress of 
Judaea, and Joppa, its only port, (A. D. 67.) In the second campaign 
the Romans swept Parana, as with the besom of destruction, and mul- 
titudes of the flying inhabitants were slaughtered and drowned at the 
fords of Jericho. Vespasian had re-united his forces at that city, and 
was preparing to advance upon Jerusalem, when the news of Nero's 
death suspended his operations, upon what seemed to him a higher 
issue than the fate of the Holy City (A. D. 68). At Alexandria, 
whither he had retired with Titus to await the event of the civil war 
in Italy, he was proclaimed emperor by his soldiers on the 1st of 
July, A. D. 69, and his generals at Rome secured his accession by 
the overthrow and death of Viteilius on the 21st of December. Ves- 
pasian did not sail from Alexandria till the following May, leaving 
Titus to finish the Jewish war, which had been suspended for nearly 
two years. The whole of that time was occupied in contests between 
the moderate party, whose desire was to take such a course as might 
yet preserve the nationality of the Jews and the existence of the city, 
and the Zealots or fanatics, the assertors of national independence, who 
scouted the idea of compromise, and resolved to regain their freedom 
or perish. The Zealots, being utterly unscrupulous, and resorting to 
massacre on the least resistance, soon triumphed, and at last reigned 
paramount, with no resistance but such as sprang from their own in- 
ternal factions. For the repulsive details of this frightful period of 
contention and outrage the reader must be referred to other works. 
It will be sufficient to sav that at the beginning: of A. D. 70, when 
Titus made his appearance, the Zealots themselves were divided into 
two parties : that of John of Giscala and Eleazar, who held the Tem- 
ple and its courts and the Antonia — 8,400 men ; that of Simon Bar- 
Gioras, whose head-quarters were in the tower Phasaelus, and who 



768 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



held the Upper City, from the present Ccenaculum to the Latin 
Convent, the Lower City in the valley, and the district where the old 
Acra had formerly stood, north of the Temple — 10,000 men, and 
5,000 Idumaaans, in all a force of between 23,000 and 24,000 sol- 
diers, trained in the civil encounters of the last two years to great 
skill and thorough recklessness. The numbers of the other inhabi- 
tants, swelled as they were by the strangers and pilgrims who flocked 
from the country to the Passover, it is extremely difficult to deter- 
mine. Tacitus, doubtless from some Roman source, gives the whole 
at 600,000. Josephus states that 1,100,000 perished during the siege, 
and that more than 40,000 were allowed to depart into the country, 
in addition to an " immense number " sold to the army, and who, of 
course, form a proportion of the 97,000 " carried captive during the 
whole war." We may, therefore, take Josephus 7 computation of tin 
numbers at about 1,200,000. Even the smaller of these numbers 
seems very greatly in excess, and it can hardly have exceeded 6C,0^0 
or 70,000. 

This state of the doomed city — overcrowded with Jews, whose na- 
tive passions and fervor, exasperated by the late war and exalted by 
the season of the Passover, doomed to be their last* were stimulated 
by the Zealots and inflamed by factions — might well prepare tho.se 
who knew the people for horrid deeds and more horrid sufferings. 
Pent up like sheep for the slaughter, they equally resembled wolves 
devouring one another. But the scene had a far more awful aspect, 
viewed in the light of ancient prophecy, as well as of Christ's recent 
denunciations of woe. As they who rejected him did but" fill up the 
measure of their fathers," so the warnings uttered to those fathers by 
Moses, by Solomon and by the prophets, were but made more pointed 
and more instant in our Lord's discourse at his last departure from 
the Temple. But the special significance of the destruction of Jeru- 
salem, as the fulfilment of the last great prophecy uttered under tlie 
Old Covenant, as the proof of His authority who gave it, and as " the 
removal of those things that are shaken that those things which can- 
not be shaken might remain," will be best considered in their place as 
the climax of the first stage in the history of the Christian Church. 
It need only be added here, that the Christians in Jerusalem were 
saved by the Lord's warning from the judicial blindness of their 
fellow-countrymen. Taking advantage of the space before the 
%\ege was formed by Titus, they departed in a body to Pella, a village 
of the Decapolis, beyond Jordan, which . became the seat of the 
"Church of Jerusalem" till Hadrian permitted their return. 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



7GS 



Titus' force consisted of four legions, and some auxiliaries — at the 
outside 30,000 men. These were disposed on their first arrival in 
three camps — the 12th and 15th legions on the ridge of Scopus, about 
a mile north of the city ; the 5th a little in the rear ; and the 10th on 
the top of the Mount of Olives, to guard the road to the Jordan valley, 
and to shell the place (if the expression may be allowed) from that 
commanding position. The army was well furnished with artillery 
and machines of the latest and most approved invention. The first 
operation was to clear the ground between Scopus and the north wall 
of the city — fell the timber, destroy the fences of the gardens which 
fringed the wall, and level the rocky protuberances. This occupied 
four days. After it was done, the three legions were marched forward, 
from Scopus, and encamped off the northwest corner of the walls,, 
stretching from the Tower Psephinus to opposite Hippicus. The first; 
,<?tep was to get possession of the outer wall. The point of attack 
chosen was in Simon's portion of the city, at a low and comparatively 
weak place near the monument of John Hyrcanus, close to the junc- 
tion of the three walls, and where the Upper City came to a level with-, 
the surrounding ground. Round this spot the three legions erected; 
banks, from which they opened batteries, pushing up the rams and! 
other engines of attack to the foot of the wall. One of the rams, more' 
powerful than the rest, went among the Jews by the sobriquet of 
Nihun, the conqueror. Three large towers, 75 feet high, were also: 
erected, overtopping the wall. Meantime, from their camp on the> 
Mount of Olives, the 10th legion opened fire on the Temple and the 
east side of the city. They had the heaviest balistse, and did great, 
damage. Simon and his men did not suffer these works to go on with- 
out molestation. The catapults, both those taken from Cestius, and 
those found in Antonia, were set up on the wall, and constant despe- 
rate sallies were made. At last the Jews began to tire ©f their fruit- 
less assaults. They saw that the Avail must fall, and, as they had done 
during Nebuchadnezzar's siege, they left their posts at night, and went 
home. A breach was made by the redoubtable Nikon on the 7th 
Artemisius (about April 15th); and here the Romans entered, driving 
the Jews before them to the second wall. A great length of the wall 
\ was then broken down ; such parts of Bezetha as had escaped destruc- 
tion by Cestius were levelled, and a new camp was formed on the 
spot formerly occupied by the Assyrians, and still known as the 
"Assyrian camp." 

This was a great step in advance. Titus now lay with the second 
49 



770 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 

wall of the city close to him on his right, while before him at no con- 
siderable distance rose Antonia and the Temple, with no obstacle in 
the interval to his attack. Still, however, he preferred, before ad- 
vancing, to get possession of the second wall, and the neighborhood 
of John's monument was again chosen. Simon was no less reckless 
in assault, and no less fertile in stratagem, than before; but, notwith- 
standing all his efforts, in five days a breach was again effected. The 
district into which the Romans had now penetrated was the great 
Valley which lay between the two main hills of the city, occupied 
then, as it is still, by an intricate mass of narrow and tortuous lanes, 
and containing the markets of the city — no doubt very like the 
present bazaars. Titus' breach was where the wool, cloth, and brass 
bazaars came up to the wall. This district was held by the Jews with 
the greatest tenacity. Knowing, as they did, every turn of the lanes 
and alleys, they had an immense advantage over the Romans, and 
it was only after four days' incessant fighting, much loss, and one 
thorough repulse, that the Romans were able to make good their 
position. However, at last, Simon was obliged to retreat, and 
(then Titus demolished the wall. This was the second step in the 
-siege. 

Meantime, some shots had been interchanged in the direction of the 
Antonia, but no serious attack was made. Before beginning there in 
(earnest, Titus resolved to give his troops a few days' rest, and the Jews 
a short opportunity for reflection. He therefore called in the tenth 
legion from the Mount of Olives, and held an inspection of the whole 
arnay on the ground north of the Temple — full in view of both the 
Temple and the Upper City, every wall and house in which were 
crowded with spectators. But the opportunity was thrown away upon 
the Jews, and after four days, orders were given to recommence the 
attack. Hitherto the assault had been almost entirely on the city ; it 
was now to be simultaneous on city and Temple. Accordingly two 
rpairs of large batteries were constructed, the one pair in front of An- 
itonia:; the other at the old point of attack — the monument of John 
Hyrcanus. The first pair was erected by the 5th and 12th legions, 
and was near the pool Struthius — probably the present Birket Israil, 
'by the St. Stephen's gate; the second by the 10th and 15th, at 
the pool called the Almond pool — possibly that now known as the 
spool of Hezekiah — and near the high priest's monument. These 
banks seem to have been constructed of timber and fascines, to which 
the Romans must have;been driven by the scarcity of earth. They 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



171 



absorbed the incessant labor of seventeen days, and were completed 
on the 29th Artemisius (about May 7). John, in the meantime, had 
not been idle; he had employed the seventeen days' respite in driving 
mines through the solid limestone of the hill, from within the fortress 
to below the banks. The mines were formed with timber roofs and 
supports. When the banks were quite complete,, and the engines 
placed upon them, the timber of the galleries was fired, the superin- 
cumbent ground gave way, and the labor of the Romans was totally 
destroyed. At the other point, Simon had maintained a resistance 
with all his former intrepidity, and more than his former success. 
He had now greatly increased the number of his machines, and his 
people were much more expert in handling them than before, so that 
he was able to impede materially the progress of the works. And 
when they were completed, and the battering rams had begun to make 
a sensible impression on the wall, he made a furious assault on them, 
and succeeded in firing the rams, seriously damaging the other engines, 
and destroying the banks. 

It now became plain to Titus that some other measures for the re- 
duction of the place must be adopted. It would appear that hitherto 
the southern and western parts of the city had not been invested, and 
on that side a certain amount of communication was kept up with the 
country, which, unless stopped, might prolong the siege indefinitely. 
The number who thus escaped is stated by Josephus at more than five 
hundred a day. A council of war was therefore held, and it was re- 
solved to encompass the whole place with a wall, and then recommence 
the assault. The wall began at the Roman camp — a spot probably 
outside the modern north wall, between the Damascus gate and the 
N. E. corner ; from thence it went to the lower part of Bezetha — 
about St. Stephen's gate ; then across Kedron to the Mount of Olives ; 
thence south, by a rock called the " Pigeon's rock," — possibly the 
modern "Tombs of the Prophets" — to the Mount of Offense. It 
then turned to the west; again dipped into the Kedron, ascended the 
Mount of Evil Counsel, and so kept on the upper side of the ravine 
to a village called Beth-Erebenthi, whence it ran putside of Herod's 
monument to its starting-point at the camp. Its entire length was 
thirty-nine furlongs — very near five miles; and it contained thirteen 
stations or guard-houses. The whole strength of the army was em- 
ployed on the work, and it was completed in the short space of three 
days. The siege was then vigorously pressed. The north attack was 
relinquished, and the whole force concentrated on the Antonia. Four 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



new banks of greater size than before were constructed, and as all the 
timber in the neighborhood had been already cut down, the materials 
had to he procured from a distance of eleven miles. Twenty-one 
days were occupied in completing the banks. At length on the first 
Panemus or Tamuz (about June 7), the fire from the banks commenced, 
under cover of which the rams were set to work, and that night a 
part of the wall fell at a spot where the foundations had been weak- 
ened by the mines employed against the former attacks. Still this 
was but an outwork, and between it and the fortress itself a new wall 
was discovered, which John had taken the precaution to build. At 
length, after two desperate attempts, this wall and that of the inner 
fortress were scaled by a bold surprise, and on the fifth Panemus 
(June 11), the Antonia was in the hands of the Romans. Another 
week was occupied in breaking down 'the outer walls of the fortress 
for the passage of the machines, and a further delay took place in 
erecting new banks, on the fresh level, for the bombardment and 
battery of the Temple. During the whole of this time — the miseries 
of which are commemorated in the traditional name of yomin deeka, 
" days of wretchedness," applied by' the Jews to the period between 
the seventeenth Tamuz and the ninth Ab — the most desperate hand- 
to-hand encounters took place, some in the passages from the Antonia 
to the cloisters, some in the cloisters themselves, the Romans endeav- 
oring to force their way in, the Jews preventing them. But the Ro- 
mans gradually gained ground. First the western, and then the 
whole of the northern external cloister was burned (twenty-seventh 
and twenty-eighth Panemus), and then the wall enclosing the court of 
Israel and the holy house itself. In the interval, on the seventeenth 
Panemus, the daily sacrifice had failed, owing to the want of offici- 
ating priests ; a circumstance which had greatly distressed the people, 
and was taken advantage of by Titus to make a further though 
fruitless invitation to surrender. At length, on the tenth day of 
Lous or Ab (July 15),— the ninth, according to the Jewish tradition 
— by the wanton act of a soldier, contrary to the intention of Titus 
and in spite of every exertion he could make to stop it, the sanctuary 
itself Avas fired. It was^ by one of those rare coincidences that some- 
times occur, the very same month and day of the month that the first 
temple had been burned by Nebuchadnezzar. John, and such of his 
party as escaped the flames and the carnage, made their way by the 
bridge on the south to the Upper City. The. whole of the cloisters 
that had hitherto escaped, including the magnificent triple colonnade 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



of Herod on the south of the Temple, the treasury chambers, and the 
rooms round the outer courts, were now all burned and demolished. 
Only the edifice of the sanctuary itself still remained. On its solid 
masonry the fire had had comparatively little effect, and there were 
still hidden in its recesses a few faithful priests who had contrived to 
rescue the most valuable of the utensils, vessels and spices of the 
sanctuary. 

The Temple was at last gained ; but it seemed as if half the work 
remained to be done. The Upper City, higher than Moriah, enclosed 
by the original wall of David and Solomon, and on all sides precipi- 
tous except at the north, where it was defended by the Avail and towers 
of Herod, was still to be taken. Titus tried a parley first through 
Josephus, and then in person, he standing on the east end of the bridge 
between the Temple and the Upper City, and John and Simon on 
the west end. His terms, however, were rejected, and no alternative 
was left him but to force on the siege. The whole of the low part of 
the town — the crowded lanes, of which we have so often heard — was 
burned, in the teeth of a frantic resistance from the Zealots, together 
with the council-house, the repository of the records (doubtless occu- 
pied by Simon since its former destruction), and the palace of Helena, 
which were situated in this quarter — the suburb of Ophel under the 
south wall of the Temple, and the houses as far as Siloam on the lower 
slopes of the Temple mount. 

It took eighteen days to erect the necessary works for the siege ; 
the four legions were once more stationed at the west or northwest 
corner, where Herod's palace abutted on the wall, and where the 
three magnificent and impregnable towers of Hippicus, Phasaelus, 
and Mariamne rose conspicuous. This was the main attack. Oppo- 
site the Temple, the precipitous nature of the slopes of the Upper 
City rendered it unlikely that any serious attempt would be made 
by the Jews, and this part, accordingly, between the bridge and 
the Xystus, was left to the auxiliaries. The attack was commenced 
on the 7th of Gorpiseus (about Sept. 11th), and by the next day a 
breach was made in the wall, and the Romans at last entered the 
city. During the attack John and Simon appear to have stationed 
themselves in the towers just alluded to ; and had they remained 
there, they would probably have been able to make terms, as the 
towers were considered impregnable. But, on the first signs of the 
breach, they took flight, and, traversing the city, descended into the 
valley of Hinnom, below Siloam, and endeavored to force the wall of 



114 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



circumvallation and so make their escape. On being repulsed there, 
they took refuge apart in some of the subterraneous caverns or sewers 
of the city. John shortly after surrendered himself; but Simon held 
out for several weeks, and did not make his appearance until after 
Titus had quitted the city. They were both reserved for the triumph 
at Roma. 

The city being taken, such parts as had escaped the former con- 
flagrations were burned, and the whole of both city and Temple was 
ordered to be demolished, excepting the west wall of the Upper 
City, and Herod's three great towers at the northwest corner, which 
were left standing as memorials of the massive nature of the fortifi- 
cations. 

Of the Jews, the aged and infirm were killed ; the children under 
seventeen were sold as slaves; the rest were sent, some to the 
Egyptian mines, some to the provincial amphitheatres, and some to 
grace the triumph of the Conqueror. Titus then departed, leaving 
the 10th legion, under the command of Terentius Rufus, to carry out 
the work of demolition. Of this Joseph us assures us, that "the whole 
was so thoroughly levelled and dug up, that no one visiting it would 
believe that it had ever been inhabited." 

For more than fifty years after its destruction by Titus, Jerusalem 
disappears from history. During the revolts of the Jews in Cyrenaica, 
Egypt, Cyprus, and Mesopotamia, which disturbed the latter years 
of Trajan, the recovery of their city was never attempted. Of its 
annals during this period we know nothing. Three towers and part 
of the western wall alone remained of its strong fortifications, to pro- 
tect the cohorts who occupied the conquered city ; and the soldiers* 
huts were long the only buildings on its site. But in the reign of 
Hadrian it again emerged from its obscurity, and became the centre 
of an insurrection, which the best blood of Rome was shed to subdue. 
In despair of keeping th3 Jews in subjection by other means, the 
Emperor had formed a design to restore Jerusalem, and thus prevent 
it from ever becoming a rallying point for this turbulent race. In 
furtherance of his plan, he had sent thither a colony of veterans, in 
numbers sufficient for the defence of a place so strong by nature 
against the then known modes of attack. To this measure Dion 
Cassius attributes a renewal of the insurrection, while Eusebius asserts 
that it was not carried into execution till the outbreak was quelled. 
Be this as it may, the embers of revolt, long smouldering, bursr into 
a flame soon after Hadrian's departure from the East, in A. D. 132. 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



775 




310U2JT OF OLIVES. 



The contemptuous indifference of the Romans, or the secrecy of their 
own plans, enabled the Jews to organize a wide-spread conspiracy. 
Bar-Cocheba, their leader, the third, according to the Rabbinical 
writers, of a dynasty of the same name, princes of the captivity, was 
crowned king at Bether by the Jews who thronged to him, and by 
the populace was regarded as the Messiah. His armor-bearer, Rabbi 
Akiba, claimed descent from Sisera, and hated the Romans with the 
fierce rancor of his adopted nation. All the Jews in Palestine flocked 
to his standard. At an early period in the revolt they became mas- 
ters of Jerusalem, and attempted to rebuild the Temple. Hadrian, 
alarmed at the rapid spread of the insurrection, and the ineffectual 
efforts of his troops to suppress it, summoned from Britain Julius 
Severus, the greatest general of his time, to take the command of the 
army of Judsea. 

A desperate struggle now ensued for two years. Then the 
Romans took Jerusalem after a fierce siege, in which Bar-Cocheba 
was slain. The sie^e and final reduction of Bether followed in A. D. 
135, and the war w^as brought to a close by the triumph of the Ro- 
mans. Thousands of lives were lost on both sides. Over half a 
million Jews fell by the sword, and countless numbers perished by 
the attendant calamities of the war. The conquerors bought their 
victory so dearly that Hadrian, in his letter to the Senate, announcing 
the close of the struggle, did not adopt the usual congratulatory 
phrase, 



776 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



Jerusalem was now utterly obliterated. The ruins which Tit»s 
had left were razed, and the ploughshare passed over the foundations 
of the Temple. A Roman colony was afterwards located here, and 
increased by a number of the Emperor's veteran legionaries. A 
temple to the Capitoline Jupiter was built on the site of the Temple, 
and in the following year, A. D. 136, the name of the city was 
changed to JElm Capitolina. Christians and pagans alone were al- 
lowed to reside in the new city. Jews w T ere forbidden to enter it on 
pain of death, and this prohibition remained in force until the time 
of Tertullian. About the middle of the fourth century the Jews 
were allowed to visit the neighborhood, and afterward, once a year, 
to enter the city itself, and weep over it on the anniversary of its 
capture. Jerome has drawn a vivid picture of the wretched crowds 
of Jews who, in his day, assembled at the wailing place, by the west 
wall of the Temple, to bemoan the loss of their ancestral greatness. 
On the ninth of the month Ab might be seen the aged and decrepit 
of both sexes, with tattered garments and disheveled hair, who met 
to weep over the downfall of Jerusalem, and purchased permission of 
the soldiery to prolong their lamentations. So completely were all 
the traces of the ancient city obliterated, that its very name was in 
process of time forgotten. It was not until after Constantine built 
the llartyrion, on the site of the crucifixion, that its ancient appella- 
tion was revived. In the seventh canon of the Council of Xicsea the 
bishop of .ZElia is mentioned, but Macarius, in subscribing to the 
canons, designated himself bishop of Jerusalem. 

The annals of the new colony of iElia are a blank until the fourth 
century, when pilgrimages to the Holy Places became common in the 
Christian world. The aged Empress, Helena, mother of Constantine, 
visited Palestine, A. D. 326, and, according to tradition, erected mag- 
nificent churches at Bethlehem and on the Mount of Olives. Her 
son, fired with the same zeal, swept away the shrine of Astarte, 
which occupied the site of the Resurrection, and founded in its stead 
a chapel or oratory. 

In the reign of Julian, A. D. 362, the Jews, with the permission 
and at the instigation of the Emperor, made an abortive attempt to 
lay the foundations of a temple. From whatever motive, Julian had 
formed the design of restoring the Jewish worship on Mount Moriah 
to its pristine splendor, and during his absence in the East the execu- 
tion of his project was entrusted to his favorite, Alypius of Antioch. 
Materials of every kind were provided at the Emperor's expense, and 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



so great was the enthusiasm of the Jews, that their women took part 
in the work, and in the laps of their garments carried off the earth 
which covered the ruins of the Temple. But a sudden whirlwind 
and earthquake shattered the stones of the former foundations; the 
workmen fled for shelter to one of the neighboring churches, the 
doors of which were closed against them by an invisible hand, and a 
fire issuing from the Temple mount raged the whole day and con- 
sumed their tools. Numbers perished in the flames. Some who 
escaped took refuge in a portico near at hand, which fell at night and 
crushed them as they slept. Whatever may have been the coloring 
which this story received as it passed through the hands of the eccle- 
siastical historians, the impartial narrative of Ammianus Marcellinus, 
the friend and companion in arms of the Emperor, leaves no reason- 
able doubt of the truth of the main facts, that the work was interrupted 
by fire, which all attributed to supernatural agency. In the time of 
Chrysostom the foundations of the Temple still remained, to which 
the orator could appeal. The event was regarded as a judgment of 
God upon the impious attempt of Julian to falsify the predictions 
of Christ : a position which Bishop Warburton defends with great 
skill in his treatise on the subject; but other writers of high au- 
thority regard it as a legend invented by superfluous and short- 
sighted zeal. 

The conquest of Jerusalem by Titus and the overthrow of the in- 
surrection against Hadrian had the effect of scattering the Jews over 
the face of the then civilized earth. Their dispersion had begun as 
early as the Babylonish captivity ; but the victories of the Romans 
completed it, and left them literally without a country. In the East 
they continued to hope for a restoration of their nationality. The 
laws of Justinian were very severe upon them, but gave them less 
trouble than was experienced by their brethren in Europe. " In liti- 
gations between Christians and Jews, or between Christians only, their 
testimony was admitted ; but that of a Samaritan or a Manichsean was 
©f no value. By another law, all unbelievers, heathen, Jews, and 
Samaritans, could neither be judges nor prefects, nor fill any other 
dignity in the state. Justinian also enacted, that in mixed marriages 
between Jews and Christians, the chief authority over the children 
should rest with the Christian parent. A Jew parent could not dis- 
inherit his Christian child. But the Samaritans were treated more 
harshly ; they were entirely deprived of the right of bequeathing or 
conveying their property to unbelievers. Those of their children wh® 



IIS HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 

embraced Christianity inherited to the exclusion of the rest. Samari- 
tans could not sue in courts of law. Their synagogues were ordered 
to be destroyed." 

Segris, Bishop of Ca3sarea, obtained a mitigation of these severities 
against the Samaritans ; but Justin revived all the oppressive statutes 
of his father, and the result was that the Samaritans gradually became 
extinct as a race. The supposition is that the majority of them em- 
braced Christianity for the purpose of saving their property. 

The Jews, still cherishing the hope of reviving their lost nation- 
ality, and surprised and enraged at the rapid spread of Christianity, 

eagerly welcomed the ad- 
vance of the Persian 
monarch, Chosroes II., 
who, in A. D. 610, in- 
vaded Palestine. They 
rose unanimously, joined 
the Persians, and assisted 
them to capture Jerusa- 
lem, then a Christian 
city. Once in possession 
of the place, they massa- 
cred the Christian inhabi- 
tants, but were soon 
terribly punished for their 
mad course by the victo- 
rious Emperor, Hera- 
clius. 

Mahomet was at first 
eastern water-carrier. hopeful of winning over 

the Jews to his religion ; 
but finding them unwilling to accept as the greatest of the prophets a 
descendant of Ishmael, turned his arms against them, and after a long 
struggle captured their castles and strongholds in Arabia, where they 
were very numerous and powerful. Omar and his generals conquered 
Jerusalem, Tiberias, Damascus, Antioch, and Alexandria from the 
Byzantines, and subdued Persia, thus bringing most of the eastern 
Jews under the rule of Islam. The Caliphs, the successors of Ma- 
homet, proved very friendly to the Jews. The later Caliphs favoring 
every science, Jewish studies revived, especially in Babylonia, where 
the Jews lived under the immediate rule of a prince of the captivity, 




HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



T79 



and where their great schools soon became famous. Under the Ca- 
liphs, they spread along the coast of Northern Africa, but their pros- 
perity was that of a scattered people, for they no longer had a country 
of their own. 

Large numbers of Jews had settled in Greece, Italy, and other parts 
of the Roman Empire, previous to the destruction of Jerusalem by 
Titus, and the final dispersion increased these colonies very largely. 
Their lot in Europe was a checkered one. Justinian was the first to 
put in force really oppressive measures against them, and as Chris- 
tianity continued to spread through the Continent, their lot grew 
worse. The converted pagans of Europe seemed to regard it as their 
religious duty to make the fate of the Jews as hard as possible. It 
will be impossible to present to the reader a detailed account of the 
history of the Jews during the dark ages of Europe, and we shall have 
to content ourselves with but a brief summary of some of the leading 
events of that period. 

In Italy, the Gothic kings had protected the Jews ; but in Spain, 
this race of kings proved their worst enemies. The most stringent 
laws were enacted against them, and at length they were commanded 
to either quit the country or embrace Christianity. Numbers of them 
sought safety in flight, others were thrown into prison, and ninety 
thousand were baptized. The Fourth Council of Toledo granted them 
some respite ; but the Eighth and Twelfth Councils of Toledo per- 
secuted them with increased fury. They were threatened with flog- 
gings, imprisonment, torture, and even with death, if they continued 
to practise their religion in Spain, and one of these Councils even went 
so far as to decree that the whole Jewish race should be considered 
slaves, that their property should be confiscated, and their children 
seized and compelled to receive Christian education. Thousands 
fled to the Saracens in Africa, and it is no wonder that they ren- 
dered willing and valuable service to the followers of the Prophet 
when they conquered Spain. Under the Moorish kings of Spain the 
Jews saw their best days in Europe, and were highly esteemed, and 
were trusted with important positions by those sovereigns. 

In France they were at first received kindly, but the early kings 
soon began to persecute them. Charlemagne protected them, and 
filled many important offices with Jews during his reign. Louis le 
Debonnaire was also friendly to them, as was Charles the Bold, until 
the fanatical clergy induced him to sanction extreme measures against 
them. The Council of Meaux forbade their holding offices of trust 



T80 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



under the government. Philip Augustus, after they had suffered 
great persecutions, banished them from his dominions in 1180, con- 
fiscated their possessions, and declared all debts due them to be an- 
nulled. About the year 1,200, the Jews were permitted to return to 
France, and came back in great numbers. For about two hundred 
years they were alternately protected and persecuted, until Charles 
VI. banished them from the kingdom (1395). 

In England they were alternately protected and persecuted. When 
Richard I. was crowned king, the Jews of York were barbarously 

massacred, (118 9.) 
Their sufferings con- 
ti n ue.d throughout 
England in the reigns 
of John and Henry 
III., and Edward I. 
banished them from the 
country. 

" Germany, where 
the greatest anarchy 
| prevailed, was the 
| scene of their bloodiest 
I persecutions, the most 
1 frightful of which took 
f place in the cities on 
^ the Rhine during the 
great desolation by the 
black plague, which 
depopulated Europe 
from the Volga to the 
Atlantic, (1348-50.) 
Pointed out to the ig- 
norant people as having caused the pestilence by poisoning the wells, 
the Jews were burned by thousands on the public squares, or burned 
themselves with their families in the synagogues. Almost every im- 
perial city had a general persecution of the Jews. The Swiss towns 
imitated their neighbors, almost all banishing their Jews. They were 
banished from the cities of Italy into separate quarters, and obliged 
to wear distinctive badges. In 1493', all the Jews of Sicily, about 
20,000 families, were banished. In Spain, during a long drought in 
1391-92, the Jewish inhabitants were massacred in many cities.* 




MODE OF TRAVELLING IN THE EAST. 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 781 



After serious persecutions, it was resolved to extirpate them from the 
country, and this inhuman measure was carried into effect by Ferdi- 
nand and Isabella, in 1492. " More than 70,000 families sought 
refuge in Portugal, where, for a large sum of money, the fugitives 
were allowed to remain for a few months, in Africa, Italy, Turkev, 
and other countries. Not the fifth part of them survived the horrors 
of compulsory expatriation, shipwreck and subsequent famine. The 
Jews of Portugal were banished in 1495 by King Emanuel, being 
robbed of their children under fourteen years of age, who were sent to 
distant islands to be brought up as Christians. The numerous con- 
verted Jews of the Peninsula were still persecuted for more than two 
centuries." These persecutions had the effect of driving the bulk of 
the European Jews into Poland, Hungary, and Turkey. In Poland 
and ITungary they were better off than in any other countries in Eu- 
rope, notwithstanding the massacre of many of them by the revolted 
Cossacks in Poland. 

Their condition in the whole of Europe during the dark ages, how- 
ever, Avas horrible. They were compelled to rely exclusively upon 
mercantile pursuits for a living, and began to acquire those cunning 
and usurious traits which have thrown such dark stains upon their 
history. It seems strange that any of them should have escaped 
from the terrible ordeal through which they were compelled to pass. 
Indeed, we are forced to admit that but for the promise that a remnant 
of Israel shall be spared until the final coming of the Messiah, they 
must all have perished. 

As the world continued to advance in civilization, a better spirit 
began to prevail. In 1588 the cruel edicts of the Catholic Church 
against them, were rescinded by Pope Sixtus V., and this step may 
be regarded as the first effort towards doing justice to them. In the 
early part of the seventeenth century they began to find favor in Hol- 
land, and to secure the right to prosecute their lawful avocations in 
peace. In 1657, Cromwell allowed them to return to England, after 
a banishment of three hundred and seventy years, but in 1702 the 
English Parliament enacted a statute prohibiting them from disin- 
heriting or casting off their children who had embraced Christianity. 
In 1723 they acquired the right to hold land in England. In 
1746 a bill passed the two houses of Parliament to naturalize the 
professors of the Jewish religion in Ireland, where two hundred of 
them then resided, but was refused the royal assent. In 1753, how- 
ever, a general naturalization law was adopted and they were admit- 



f82 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



ted to the privileges of English citizenship, but the act was repealed 
the next year in consequence of petitions to that effect from all the 
cities in England. 

The French Republic showed great favor to the Jews, granted them 
numerous privileges in France, and even went so far as to declare, in 
1790, that the Jews of Spain, Portugal and Avignon were citizens of 
France. In 1806, Napoleon I. assembled a sanhedrim at Paris, and 
submitted to them twelve questions concerning the moral and social 
doctrines and discipline of the Jews. Their answers being found 
satisfactory, an ordinance was issued giving the Jews a regular organ- 
ization throughout France, and placing them on the same footing as 
other Frenchmen. This wise and just act continues in force at the 
present day. In Prussia and the other German States, similar laws 
have at length done justice to this persecuted and oppressed race, but 
in Russia they are still subject to many restrictions, which were modi- 
fied very greatly in 1862. 

In England they have enjoyed the largest privileges. As early as 
the middle of the last century, efforts were made to place them on the 
same footing as other British subjects, but without success. In 1835, 
one of their leading members, Mr. David Salomons, was elected 
Sheriff of London. He was the first Jew that had ever held this 
high office, and an act was passed enabling him to serve. In 1836, 
an effort was made to secure a general emancipation of the English 
Jews from their political disabilities, but the bill failed in the House 
of Commons. Moses Montifiore, Esq., was elected Sheriff of Lon- 
don in 1837, and on the 9th of November of that year, was knighted 
by the Queen, being the first of his race on whom this honor was ever 
conferred. In 1855, Alderman Salomons was elected Lord Mayor of 
London, the first Jew ever chosen to that office, and in 1865, Alder- 
man Benjamin Samuel Phillips became the second Jewish Lord Mayor. 
In 1849, Baron Lionel de Rothschild was elected to Parliament for 
the city of London, and in 1857, Alderman Salomons was returned 
for Greenwich. Baron de Rothschild was again returned for the 
capital in 1852, and at the two general elections in 1857. Neither of 
these gentlemen were able to take their seats, the oath required of a 
member of Parliament being such that only a Christian could sub- 
scribe to it. Repeated efforts were made to modify the official oaths 
of the kingdom, and in 1846 a law was passed providing a special 
form of oath for Jews holding civil offices. In July, 1858, Parlia- 
ment passed an act, which received the royal assent, enabling Jews to 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



783 



sit in that body, and on the 26th of that month Baron de Rothschild 
took his seat as the representative of the city of London. In 1860, 
Parliament adopted an act permitting Jewish members to omit the 
words " on the faith of a Christian " from the usual oath. This is at 
present the condition of the Jews in Great Britain, where they form 
a large and flourishing community, and are admitted on all sides to 
be amongst the best and most devoted citizens of the kingdom. 

The Roman Cath- 
olic Church, how- 
ever, has not ceased 
to persecute the Jews. 
In June, 1858, a 
youth named Edgar 
Mortara was forcibly 
taken from his pa- 
rents by order of the 
Arch-bishop of Bo- 
logna, on the plea of 
having been baptized, 
when an infant, bv a - 
R o m a n Catholic 
maid-servant. His ij 
parents implored his 



The Jews in England 
and France brought 
great influence to 
bear upon the Papal 
court, and even the 
French government 
urged the restoration 
of the lad, but 
all without effect. 




MODERN JEWISH SYNAGOGUE. 



The Papal court was deaf to the voice of hu- 
manity, and blinded by bigotry, and the lad's family were forced to 
submit to their cruel bereavement. Again in 1864, the Jews were sub- 
jected to a cruel and bigoted persecution in the city of Rome. 

The Jews, at an early day, commenced to emigrate to America, and 
the perfect equality guaranteed to all religions by the United States, 
has had the effect of drawing large numbers of them to the United 
States, where they have prospered to a remarkable degree. 



784 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



The civil and religious freedom guaranteed to all by our institutions, 
and the admirable opportunities here enjoyed for amassing wealth, 
attract them from all parts of the world. They are increasing 
rapidly in numbers and wealth. They are largely interested in the 
financial operations of the country; they own much real estate; they 
are engaged in every department of industry, and their thrift and 
business capacity have added largely to the wealth and commerce of 
the land. Their religious edifices are among the most imposing in 
the country ; their charitable, benevolent, and educational establish- 
ments among the noblest. In the city of New York alone their 
synagogues are valued at more than $4,000,000. 

It is usually calculated that there are about five or six millions of 
Jews in the world. From the best information at our command, we 
estimate their numbers, as follows, in the various countries of the 
globe : 



In Morocco about 540,000 souls. 

In Egypt " 2,000 " 

In Bokhara " 2,000 families. 

In Persia " 2,974 " 

In Mesopotamia and Assyria 5,270 " 

In Arabia " 18,000 souls. 

In Syria and Palestine " 16,059 " 

In the Turkish dominions, not including the Bar- 

bary States * " 800,000 " 

In the Russian Empire . . \ " 2,000,000 " 

In the Austrian " " 1,049,871 " 

In Denmark . " • 6,000 " 

In Sweden " 450 " 

In Prussia " 134,000 " 

In the German States (not given above) ... " 1( 8,000 " 

In Belgium ........ " 3,000 " 

In Holland " 70,000 " 

In France " 110,000 " 

In Spain " 4,500 " 

In Italy . ... . . . . . . " 50,000 " 

In Great Britain . " 36,000 

In the United States . " 260,000 11 



Thus scattered over the face of the earth, divided by the language 
and the customs of the various countries they inhabit, they constitute 
one and the same race — a race which is patiently awaiting the time * 
when it shall be the good pleasure of Jehovah to gather them to 
himself from the ends of the earth, under the kingdom of the trium- 
phant Messiah — that Messiah whom they now despise, but whom 
they will then acknowledge as the true heir of his father David. 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



785 



A remarkable character this Jew, wandering in the earth, a man 
of all nations, but with no country of his own, a man who once had 
David and Solomon for his kings, but now has no king ; who in the 
early days gave laws to the whole world, and is now subject to the 
laws of all the civilized nations of the globe. Remarkable in his 
ancestry, in his character, in his intellectual ability, in his separate- 
ness from all other peoples — in fact, the most remarkable of all men ! 
The Jew has helped to make the world. He has taken it up, as it 
were, and moulded it in his hands; all other men combined have not 
so changed the earth as has the Jew. He is well worth studying, 
and we trust the reader is fully alive to the imposing scenes in his 
history which are depicted upon the preceding pages. 

It is a question that might well be studied, how the Jew should be 
so distinct in his characteristics. Just as God raised up this people 
of old for himself, so not only as a nation did he separate them, but 
he even separated them in their physical characteristics, in their 
physiognomy, in their features, in their speech, as well as in many 
other respects. And how wonderful it is that the Jew should be so 
capable of adapting himself to all climates and all countries, and yet 
should continue from age to age in all those remarkable features 
which distinguished him from others. Go where he will, he is the 
same Jew. Persecution does not kill him; oppression does not 
weaken his tough fibre ; spears do not drive him back. Battles do 
not waste his blood; all the malice of men seems but to prosper him, 
multiply him, enrich him, and render him more than ever a Jew. 

Think of the long struggle of that race; think that since the 
capture of Jerusalem by Titus, that terrible siege which forms one of 
the darkest pages of history, the Jew has had to fight for existence 
even more courageously than he did before. As when he marched 
through the Red sea and the wilderness into the promised land, all 
the surrounding people were his enemies, seeking to drive him back 
beyond that sacred stream whose waters had miraculously opened for 
his footsteps, so in modern times, tribes, powers, armies and thrones 
have been his foes, but the Jew is mightier in the earth to-day than ever. 
This is one of the strange facts in human society. These things can 
be said concerning no others. The tenacity with which the Jew holds 
to his ancestral traditions, his religious ideas, his historical character- 
istics, in short, to himself — how mysterious ! Why does not the Jew 
fade away? Why does he not disappear in the earth? Why, as 
drops of water fall into the stream, is he not lost in the great current 



786 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



and onward movement of the world? But he is not lost; he is just 
as tough and firm in his individuality to-day as he was thousands of 
years ago. 

He will not marry outside his own sect. He will not worship with 
Christians. He will not permit marriage into his own family unless 
the person so uniting with a Jew becomes formally a Jew also. But 
with that peculiar shrewdness which has always distinguished him, and 
which is evidently essential if he is to maintain his individuality in 
the earth, he will do business with Christians and he will not permit 
himself to be out-witted. And so it has come about that poor Jews 
are few in number, except in countries where they have been oppressed 
into the very dust. Rarely are they found in criminal courts, rarely 
in the penitentiary, rarely in the poorhouse. 

He is a unique character, this Jew — God's man, of whose blood is 
the Redeemer of the world — nation born of old, continued through 
the ages, divided off from all others, that in its veins might be lodged 
the divinest blood of the race; that through this channel all kingdoms 
and countries might be blest. Who shall deny the providence ? Who 
shall say that more than human hand is not in this history, which has 
now been unfolded? Who shall say that this Hebrew life, beaten 
against by the lives of a hundred nations, yet undestroyed and un- 
scarred, is not the life from which the world may hope the most? 
We despise the Jew, but we should not. Blinded he is, and was to 
be according to the prophecy of the great apostle, but do not forget 
that along with that prophecy of the veil that hides the eyes, is a 
dearer prophecy that the hiding veil shall be taken away. Then it is 
not too much to say that, in the future life of the earth, the Jew shall 
act a conspicuous part. When the final history is written, his name 
will be no less prominent than it is now when we uncover the annals 
of the past. 

Races and peoples have their education as well as individuals, and 
what they become is due to a very great extent to the forces which 
have been brought to bear upon them. Barbarism yields to the on- 
ward march of Christianity; a long time it takes to work out of 
national character what has grown and developed through ages; still, 
the strongest fibre can be made to yield, and grander revolutions than 
are wrought by battles and victories can be gained by moral and 
spiritual influences. In a very remarkable manner can this be said 
of the Jew. If we look even into his early history we may discover 
that his character was formed and developed to a great extent by his 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



787 



surroundings. In Egypt he was oppressed ; he was made to serve ; 
he Was placed in chains, and naturally became hostile toward his 
oppressors ; all along he has had to fight his way, and when he has 
not been oppressed by such conquerors as the haughty Romans, he 
has been persecuted by those who were unfriendly to his religion. 
This will account to a great extent for the character of the Jew. He 
is what he has been made ; he has grown up into a strong nationality, 
so that he maintains his old-time character, prejudices and opinions, 
despite all the educating and Christianizing influences of the present 
time. 

This Jewish nation has done enough for the world to retire from 
the scene, and hold a heavy account against humanity. It has given 
to man his Christ, his civilization, his renewed and glorified earth. It 
could pass from existence, and leave the finest of all histories behind it. 
But its career is not ended, and when the great consummation shall 
come, it will be found that this nation stands foremost in shaping the 
world's destiny 



A 

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, 

SHOWING 

THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS OF JEWISH AND CONTEMPORA- 
NEOUS HISTORY, FROM THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. 



4004 

2650 
2349 
2020 
2010 
1996 
1921 
1896 
1856 
1837 
1729 
1571 
1493 
1491 

1491 
1451 

1352 
1273 
1263 
1193 
1136 
1120 
1102 
1095 
1075 
1056 
1048 

1042 
1023 
1015 

1012 
1006 
975 



JEWISH HISTORY. 



Creation of the world. 
The deluge. 



Birth of Abraham. 
Call of Abraham. 
Isaac born. 

Birth of Jacob and Esau. 
Joseph sold into Egypt. 
Moses born. 

The Passover instituted — Departure 

from Egypt. 
The Law given from Mount Sinai. 
Death of Moses and Aaron — Joshua 

leads the Israelites into Canaan. 



CONTEMPORANEOUS EVENTS. 



j- The Judges. 
J 



Samson slays the Philistines. 
Death of Samson. 

Saul made king. 
Death of Samuel. 
Death of Saul and Jonathan. 
David, king over Israel — Takes Jeru- 
salem. 

The Ark removed to Jerusalem. 
Revolt of Absalom. 

Death of David and accession of Sol- 
omon. 

Foundation of the Temple. 

Dedication of the Temple. 

Death of Solomon — Revolt of the Ten 
Tribes — Kingdom of Israel estab- 
lished under Jeroboam. 

788 



Chinese Empire founded. 
| Sesostris, king of Egypt. 

Kingdom of Argos founded. 



Cadmus introduces letters into 

Greece. . 



~) Corinth founded. 
| Rise of Assyria, 
f Search for the Golden Fleece., 
J War against Troy 



Sparta a kingdom, 



Tyre flourishes under Hiram. 



CHRONOLOGICA 



L TABLE. 



789 



975 
971 



957 

906 

901 
897 
896 
895 
878 
776 
771 

758 
753 
747 
741 



740 



JEWISH BISTORT. 



721 

710 

698 

678 

658 
656 

625 
624 
608 



Shemaiah averts a civil war — Reho- 
boam, king of Judah. 

Shishak, king of Egypt, takes Jeru- 
salem and pillages the Temple. 

Abijah defeats the king of Israel ; 
50,000 men are slain in the battle. 

Israel afflicted with the famine pre- 
dicted by Elijah. 

The Syrians besiege Samaria. 

Elijah translated to heaven. 

Death of Ahab, king of Israel. 

Miracles of Elisha the Prophet. 



Israel invaded by the Assyrians under 
Phul. 



Pekah, king of Israel, lays siege to 
Jerusalem ; 120,000 of the men of 
Judah are slain in one day. 

Ahaz, king of Judah, being defeated 
by Pekah, calls in the assistance of 
Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, and 
becomes tributary to him — Israel is 
also made tributary to the same 
king — A Syrian altar is set up in the 
Temple, and the sacred vessels sent 
to Assyria. 

Samaria is taken by the king of As- 
syria — The Ten Tribes carried into 
captivity — End of the Kingdom of 
Israel— Isaiah and Micah, prophets 
in Judah. 

Sennacherib invades Judsea, but the de- 
stroying angel enters the camp of 
the Assyrians, and in one night de- 
stroys 185,000 of them. 

Manasseh, king of Judah — Gross idol- 
atry of Judah. 

Samaria Colonized by Assyrians. 



CONTEMPORANEOUS EVENTS. 



Tabrimmon, king of Damascus. 



Carthage founded by Dido. 
Commencement of the Olympic 
Era. 

Syracuse founded. 

Rome built. 

Era of Nabonassar. 



Holofernes is killed at the siege of Be- 
thulia by Judith. 



In repairing the Temple Hilkiah dis- 
covers the book of the law, and 
Josiah keeps a solemn Passover — 
Jeremiah, prophet. 

Josiah killed in battle— Jehoiakim, king. 



Numa Pompilius, B. C. 715. 



Scythian invasion of "Western 

Asia. 
Byzantium founded. 



Alyattes, king of Lydia — Nabo- 
polassar of* Babylonia and 
Cyaxeres of Media destroy 
Nineveh. 



Babylon a great kingdom. 



790 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



JEWISH HISTORY. 



Jeremiah's prophecy of the 70 years' 
captivity — Nebuchadnezzar invades 
Judaea, takes Jerusalem— Jehoiakim, 
his vassal. 

Jehoiakim revolts from Babylon. 

Nebuchadnezzar besieges Jerusalem. 

Jerusalem taken — Jehoiakim deposed, 
and succeeded by Jehoiachin, who 
rebels. 

Zedekiah made king over the remnant 
of Judah. 

Jerusalem having rebelled aga'.nst Ba- 
bylon, is besieged by Nebuchad- 
nezzar. 

Jerusalem taken and destroyed by 
Neuuchadnezzar — Zedekiah's eyes 
are put out — He is taken to Babylon, 
where he dies— End of the kingdom 
of Judah. 



}■ The Jews captives in Babylon. 



Cyrus allows the Jews to return ta 
their own country — Return of the 
first caravan under Zerubbabel and 
Joshua. 

Rebuilding of the Temple. 

Opposition of the Samaritans. 

Letter to the Persian king from the 
adversaries. 



Work on the Temple stopped 

royal decree. 
Haggai and Zechariah. 
Building of the Temple resumed 
515 Dedication of the Second Temple 
510 



by a 



COKTJSrO^ANEOUS EVENTS. 



Solon, legislator at Athens. 



Copper money coined at Rome 

Fall of Tyre. 

Amasis, king of Egypt. 

First comedy performed at 
Athens. 

Founding of the Persian Em- 
pire by Cyrus. 

Marseilles built by the Pho- 
cseans. 

Babylon taken by Cyrus and 
united to Persia. 



Tarquinius Superbus, king of 

Rome. 
Death of Cyrus. 

Egypt conquered by Cambys- 

ses. » 
Death of Cambysses. 



Expulsion of the Tarquins — 

Rome and Athens republics. 
Tribunes. 

Battle of Marathon. 
Xerxes (the Ahasuerus of Es- 
ther). 

Battles of Salomis and Thermo- 
pylae — Persians burn Athens. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



791 



JEWISH HISTORY. 



474 

4(58 



Esther and McrdecaL 



Commission of Ezra. 
Great reformation. 



(Commission of Nehemiah — The 
walls rebuilt — Reading of the law — 
Opposition of Sanballat. 



Malachi. 



Murder of Joshua. 



Alleged captivity of the Jews. 
Jaddua, High Priest. 



The High Priest induces Alexander to 

spare Jerusalem. 
Settlement of Jews at Alexandria. 
Onias, High Priest. 



300 
298 i 



Ptolemy takes Jerusalem— Jewish set- 
tlements in Egypt and Cyrene. 

Palestine under Antigonus. 
Commencement of the Era of the 

Seleucidse. 
Simon I., the Just, High Priest 



CONTEMPORANEOUS EVENTS. 



Battles of Platsea and Mycale 
—Persians retreat from Greece. 

Death of Aristides— Socrates 
born. 

Cimon defeats the Persians. 
Death of Xerxes. 
Cincinnatus dictator. 



Decemvirate 

Claudius. 
Herodotus. 



at Rome— Appius 



Peloponnessian War. 
Pericles dies— Plato born. 
Lysander takes Uhens— Death, 

of Alci. la r les. 
Xenophon Retreat of the 10.- 

ooo: 

Death of Socrates. 
Rome taken by the Gauls. 
Battle of Leuctra. 

Death of Epaminondas. 

Birth of Alexandi ^he Great- 
Temple of Diana at Ephesus 
burued. 



Death of Plato. 

Alexander the Great succeeds to 
the throne. 

Destruction of Thebes. 

Battle of Issus — Damascus taken 
and Tyre besieged by Alex- 
ander. 

Alexander, king of Epirus in 

Italy. 
Battle of Arbela. 
Demosthenes' oration for the: 

crown. 
Death of Alexander. 
Romans humiliated by the Sam- 

nites at the Caudine forks — 

Demosthenes and Aristotle 

die. 



Thebes rebuilt. 

Appius Claudius, censor. 

Third Samnite war. 



792 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



JEWISH HISTORY. 



292!Eleazar, High Priest. 
265 



251 
241 

235 

219 
218 
217 



216 
215 
206 
205 

204 

201 
197 



187 

183 
175 

171 
170 



168 

167 
166 
164 

162 
161 



1-58 
153 
149 
146 



Manasseh, High Priest. 



Antiochus overruns Palestine. 

Ptolemy recovers Palestine, profanes 
the Temple, but is driven out super- 
naturally — He persecutes the Jews 
of Alexandria. 



The Jews submit to Antiochus, the 
Great — Are well treated at first. 



Palestine and Coele-Syria conquered 
by Antiochus the Great, and con- 
firmed to him by the peace with 
Rome. 

Attempt of Heliodorus to plunder the 
Temple. 

Onias III. degraded from the High 
Priesthood which is sold to Jason. 

Jerusalem taken by Antiochus Epi- 
phanes — Great cruelties towards the 
Jews. 

Menelaus deposed — Massacre at Jeru- 
salem —Beginning of the Maccabsean 
war of independence. 

Judas Maccabteas defeats the Syrian 
Generals. 

Judas takes Jerusalem — Re-dedication 
of the Temple. 

Death of Antiochus— He is succeeded 
by Antiochus V., Eupator, who 
takes Bethsura and besieges Jeru- 
salem — Peace with the Jews. 

Alcimus made High Priest— Judas 
calls on the Jews to resist. 

Victory of Adasa — Embassy to Rome 
Death of -Judas — Death of John 
Maeeabseus. 

Peace with Syria. 

Jonathan, High Priest. 

Alliance with Demetrius, whose life 
Jonathan ..saves. 



CONTEMPORANEOUS EVENTS. 



Commencement of the Punic 
wars. 

End of the First Punic war. 
Temple of Janus closed for the 

first time since Nurna. 
Second Punic war. 
Hannibal crosses the Alps. 
Battle of Trasimene. 



Battle of Cannae. 
Chinese wall built. 
Dynasty of .Han in China. 



Scipio in Africa — Defeat of the 

Carthaginians. 
Peace with Carthage. 



Death of Hannibal and Scipio. 
Third Macedonian war 

End of the Macedonian kingdom. 



Alliance between Rome and 
Judsea. 



Celtiberian war. 
Third Punic war. 
Destruction of Carthage. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



793 



144 
141 

140 

137 
128 



125 

121 
109 

107 
106 

105 
100 
83 
78 
71 
69 



57 

55 
54 
52 
49 

48 
46 

44 

43 



JEWISH HISTORY. 



Death of Jonathan. 

Tower of Zion taken— First year of 

Jewish freedom. 
Simon made hereditary prince of the 

Jews. 

John Hyrcanus, High Priest. 
Hyrcanus goes to Parthia with Anti- 

ochus, who is killed there — Judsea 

independent. 
Hyrcanus conquers the land east of 

Jordan. 

Hyrcanus destroys the Samaritan Tem- 
ple on Mount Gerizim. 

Death of Hyrcanus— Aristobulus, High 

Priest, assumes the title of king. 
Alexander Jannseus— Civil war. 



Alexandra, queen of Judsea. 

Hyrcanus II., king, deposed by his 
brother after 3 months — Succeeded 
by Aristobulus II. — Rise of Anti 
pater. 

Civil war between the rival brothers- 
Appeal to the Romans. 

Arbitration of Pompey. 

Pompey carries Jerusalem by assault— 
Judsea subject to Rome from this 
time. 

Alexander, son of Aristobulus II., 
makes war on Hyrcanus, but is de- 
feated by Gabinius, Proconsul of 
Syria. 



Crassus at Jerusalem ; plunders the 
Temple. 

Cassius enslaves 30,000 Jews, the par- 
tisans of Aristobulus. 

Caesar releases Aristobulus, who is put 
to death by the Pompeians — Alex 
ander put to death by Scipio at An- 
tioch. 

Antipater, first Roman Procurator of 
Judsea— Hyrcanus, Ethnarch. 
Antipater appoints his sons Phasael 

and Herod captains of Judsea and 

Galilee. 

Decree of Csesar for refortifying Jem 
j salem. 

.Cassius plunders Jerusalem. 



CONTEMPORANEOUS EVENTS. 



Death of Tiberias Gracchus. 



Death of Caius Gracchus. 



Marius, First Consul. 
Jugurtha taken — Cicero and 
Pompey born. 

Julius Csesar born. 
Sylla, dictator. 

Defeat and death of Spartacus. 



Syria a Roman province. 



Cicero, consul. 



Caesar's first descent on Brit- 
ain. 

Second invasion of Britain. 



Csesar crosses the Rubicon. 



Battle of Pharsalia — Death of 

Pompey. 
Reform of the Callendar. 



Death of Csesar. 
Death of Cicero. 



. c. 
42 

40 
37 

36 

35 
34 

31 

30 

29 
28 

27 

26 

24 

23 
21 

18 
17 
12 

io 1 

4 

L. r>. 
1 

6 

14 
26 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



JEWISH HISTORY. 



made High 



Herod defeats Antigonas, and enters 
Jerusalem in triumph— Is reconciled 
to Hyrcauus, and betrothed to Marl 
amne. 

Herod appointed king by the Roman 
Senate. 

Herod takes Jerusalem on the day of 
atonement — Marries Mariamne — 
Death of Antigonus— End of the 
Asmonrcan line— Annel 
Priest. 

Herod compelled by Cleopatra to make 
Aristobulus High Priest 

Murder of Aristobulus. 

Herod appeases Antony by gifts— An- 
tony gives Ccele-Syria to Cleopatra. 

Herod defeats the Arabians — Dreadfu 
earthquake in Judrea. 

Herod meets Octavian at Rome, and 
is confirmed in his kingdom. 

Herod puts Mariamne to death. 

Murder of Alexandra, mother of Ma 
riamne. 



Herod murders the last of the family 
of Hyrcanus — Introduces heathen 
games into Jerusalem. 

The dominions of Herod increased by 
the addition of Trachonitis, Batanea, 
and Auranitis — Sends his sons Alex- 
ander and Aristobulus to Rome. 

Herod visits Agrippa at Mytilene. 

Herod rebuilds his palace — Founds 
CaBsarea. 

Rebuilding of the Temple. 

Completion of the Holy Place. 

Refuses the hand of Salome to the 
Arabian Syllreus. 

Herod opens David's tomb in search 
of treasure. 

Murder of Alexander and Aristobu- 
lus, Herod's sons by Mariamne — 
The Pharisees refuse the oath to 
Coesar and Herod, and are fined. 

Birth of Christ, according to the com- 
mon reckoning— Death" of Herod. 

Archelaus and Antipas, tetrarehs, 
Judnca annexed to the Roman province 

of Syria. 
Birth of Saint Paul. 



Baptism of John. 



CONTKMPORANEOUS EVENTS. 



Battle of Philippi —Death of 
Brutus and Cassius. 



Roman Empire divided— Octav- 
ian and Antony at Rome. 

Renewal of the triumvirate for 
five years. 



Antony and Cleopatra. 



Battle of Actium. 

Death of Anthony and Cleopa- 
tra—Egypt a Roman province. 



The name of Augustus conferred 
upon Octavian. 



Death of Marcellus. 



Augustus Pontifex Mnximus. 



Augustus, Emperor of Rome. 



Tiberius in Germany — Famine 

at Rome. 
Varus defeated by the Germans. 
Death of Augustus — Accession 

of Tiberius. • 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



795 



JEWISH BISTORT. 



27 j ) Pontius Pilate — Ministry of Jesus 

' f Christ. 



to 30 

30 Crucifixion 



and ascension of our Sa- 



31 'Spread of the Gospel at Jerusalem. 
36 Pilate deposed — Martyrdom of St. 

| Stephen. 
37 'Conversion of St. Paul. 
&9| Caligula attempts to set up his statue 
in the Temple. 



41 

43 

54 
04 
60 

67 
69 
70 



130 

135 
136 



to 



1078 

1095 
1146 
1189 



1187 
1204 



Herod Agrippa builds the walls of Je- 
rusalem. 

) Spread of Christianity in Judaea and 

| the Roman Empire. 
The Jews throw off the Roman yoke — 

Beginning of the war with Rome 
Vespasian overruns the country. 

The Christians of Jerusalem retire 
from the city to Pella before the 
siege is formed — Capture and de- 
struction of Jerusalem and the Tern 
pie by Titus. 

Hadrian rebuilds Jerusalem, calling it 
JElia Capitolina, and erects a temple 
to Jupiter. 

Rebellion of the Jews under Bar- 
Cocheba. 

Second conquest and destruction of 
Jerusalem by the Romans — More 
than 500,000 Jews put to the sword 
— Final desolation of Judaja — The 
Jews forbidden to return to the 
Holy City — Final dispersion of the 
Jews — During this time they are 
scattered over the face of the 
earth — In the Eastern countries 
they are generally well treated 
In Europe they are sometimes 
persecuted, and sometimes well 
treated. For the events of this 
period of their history, the reader 
is referred to the History of the 
Jews already given in the body of 
this work. 

Jews first settle in England. 



The Jews of London massacred at the 
instigation of the priests on the occa- 
sion of the coronation of Richard I. 

Barbarous treatment of the English 
Jews under King John. 



CONTEMPORANEOUS EVENTS. 



| Tiber 



ias, Emperor of Rome. 



Caligula, Emperor. 
Claudius, Emperor. 



) Nero, Emperor— Rome on fire 
{ for six days. 



Death of Nero. 
Vespasian, Emperor. 



Hadrian, Emperor. 



The events of Gentile history 
from a. d. 136 to 1078 are of 
the highest importance : the 
chief are the persecution 
and final triumph of Chris- 
tianity ; the downfall of the 
Roman Empire; the civili- 
zation of Europe, and the 
establishment of the age of 
chivalry. 



The first Crusade. 
Second Crusade. 



Jerusalem taken by Saladin. 



796 



CHRONOLOGICA 



L TABLE. 



JEWISH HISTOET. 



CONTEMPORANEOUS EVENTS. 



1215 
1348 



1357 
1492 

to 
1494 
1588 

1603 

1657 

1658 
1702 

1723 

1724 
1732 
1746 

1753 
1754 

1755 



1775 

1783 
1789 

1790 



1801 
1806 

1807 
1808 

1812 



1815 
1819 



A fatal distemper raging in Europe, the 
Jews are suspected of having poisoned 
the springs, and numbers of them are 
massacred. 

}Jews banished from Spain, Portugal, 
and France — Terrible sufferings 
caused thereby. 
Edicts against Jews rescinded by Pope 

Sixtus V. _ i 
Jews favored in Holland. 

Jews allowed by Cromwell to return to 
England. 

Statute to compel them to maintain their 

Protestant children enacted. 
Jews acquire the right to own land in 
England. 



Failure of bill to naturalize Jews in 

Ireland. 
Jews naturalized in England. 
Jewish naturalization bill repealed by 
Parliament. 



The Jews of Spain, Portugal, and Avig- 
non are declared citizens of France by 
the Republic — Beginning of universal 
toleration and protection for the Jews 
in Christian countries. 

Sitting of the great Sanhedrim of Paris, 
convened by the Emperor Napoleon. 

London society founded for promoting 
Christianity among the Jews. 



1820 Alexander of Russia grants land on the 
I Sea of Azof to converted Jews. 



Magna Charta. 



Turks in Europe. 
Discovery of America, 1 492. 



Spanish Armada. 

Accession of James VI. of Scot- 
land to the English crown. 



Death of Cromwell. 
Queen Anne — Victories of Marl- 
borough and Prince Eugene. 



Congress of Cambrai. 
George Washington born. 
Battles of Falkirk and Culloden. 



War between France and England 
carried on in America — Earth- 
quake at Lisbon. 

American Revolution. 

American Independence. 

Organization of the United States 
of America. 



Iron railways in England. 



Robert Fulton m ade his steamboat. 

Duke of Wellington made lieuten- 
ant-general of the British army. 

War between England _ and the 
United States of America — Gas- 
lights in the streets of London. 

Napoleon defeated by Wellington 
at Waterloo- Algiers bombarded. 

First steamboat crossed the Atlan- 
tic, New York to Liverpool. 



CHRONOLOGICA 



L TABLE. 



797 




1822 
1829 
1831 
1833 

1835 



1836 

1837 

1840 

1845 
1846 

1848 
1849 

1851 
1852 
1853 



1854 
1855 



1856 



1857 



Mr. David Salomons, the first Jewish 
Sheriff of London, elected ; Parlia- 
ment confers upon him power to act. 

Bill for Jewish emancipation in England 
lost on the second reading in the Com- 
mons. 

Moses Montefiore elected Sheriff of Lon- 
don, being the first to receive the honor 
of Knighthood from the Queen. 

Persecution of the Jews at Damascus, 
arising from the disappearance of a 
Greek Priest. 



Parliamentary act passed to relieve Jews 
elected to municipal oflices from taking 
oaths. 



Baron Lionel de Rothschild elected to 
Parliament for the^ city of London, 
but not allowed to sit. 

Alderman Salomons elected to Parliament 
for Greenwich, but not allowed to sit — 
Jewish Oaths of Abjuration Bill passes 
the House of Commons. 

Baron Rothschild again elected to Par- 
liament for the city of London — Vio- 
lent outbreak against the Jews in 
Stockholm. 

Jewish Oath Bill again passed in Com- 
mons, and thrown out in the House 
of Lords. 

Alderman Salomons the first Jewish Lord 
Mayor of London. 

Jewish Oath Bill several times passed in 
Commons and thrown out in the House 
of Lords, 1854-7. 



The Greek Revolution. 
Catholic emancipation in England. 
Lord John Russell's Reform Bill. 
Girard College in Philadelphia 
founded. 

Boston and Lowell railroad com- 
pleted, the first in the United 
States. 

James Smithson founds the Smith- 
sonian Institution — Chinese ex- 
pel English and other "barba- 
rians. ' ' 

Morse's patent for the electric tele- 
graph. 

Penny post in England. 



Sir John Franklin makes a voyage 
to the Arctic Seas. 

Pius IX. becomes pope — City of 
Mexico captured — California 
ceded to the United States — 
Thames tunnel opened. 

French Revolution — Louis Napo- 
leon III. President. 

Rome a republic. 



The first Great Exhibition, Lon- 
don. 



Louis Napoleon III. becomes Em- 
peror of France. 



The Crimean war. 
Alexander II., born 1818, becomes 
Czar of Russia. 

Peace between England, France, 
Italy, and Turkey-War between 
England and Persia — Bombard- 
ment of Canton by the English 
fleet. 

Attempt to lav the first Atlantic 
cable fails— The Dred Scott de- 
cision — Storming of Delhi and 
Relief of Lucknow. 



798 



CHRONOLOGICA 



L TABLE. 



JEWISH HISTORY. 



1858 The Archbishop of Bologna orders Ed- 
gar Mortara, a Jewish child, to be 
forcibly taken from his parents on the 
plea that a Roman Catholic maid-ser- 
vant had him baptized in infancy — The 
English House of Commons passes by 
resolution an act enabling Jews to sit 
in Parliament — Baron Lionel de Roth- 
schild takes his seat as Member of Par- 
liament for the city of London, and 
endows a scholarship in i\ie city of 
London School to commemorate the 
event. 

1859 Protest respecting the seizure of the boy 
Mortara signed at London by the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, bishops, noble- 
men, and others, and presented to Lord 
John Russell, also sent to the French 
ambassador. 



1860 



1861 



1862 



1863 



Repeal of oppressive laws against the 
Jews in the Austrian Empire — Act 
passed in England permitting Jewish 
Members of Parliament to omit from 
the oath the words 1 1 on the faith of a 
Christian." 



Extension of political privileges to the 
Jews in Russia and Poland. 



CONTEMPORANEOUS EVENTS. 



Dispute between the United States 
and Great Britain respecting the 
right of search — Completion of 
the first Atlantic telegraph — 
Orsini attempts to assassinate 
Napoleon III. — Minnesota ad- 
mitted as a State — The Dan- 
ubian principalities constituted 
— India subject to the British 
crown. 



Dispute between the United States 
and Great Britain concerning 
Vancouver's Island — War be- 
tween Spain and Morocco — 
Death of Washington Irving — 
Death of Lord Macaulay. 

Abraham Lincoln elected Presi- 
dent of the United States — Ces- 
sion of Savoy and Nice to 
France — The Prince of Wales 
visits the United States — Dis- 
covery of oil-wells in Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Secession of the Southern States of * 
the Union — Confederate States 
organized with Jefferson Davis 
as President — Capture of Fort 
Sumter by the Confederates — 
Battle of Bull Run — Mason and 
Slidell captured by Commodore 
Wilkes — William I. King of 
Prussia — First Italian Parlia- 
ment meets at Turin — Death of 
Prince Albert, born 1819, Con- 
sort of Queen Victoria. 

Capture of Fort Donelson — Battle 
of Shiloh — Capture of New 
Orleans — Battles of Antietam 
and Fredericksburg — War be- 
tween France and Mexico — 
International Exhibition at Lon- 
don. < 

Emancipation proclamation — Bat- 
tle of Chancellorsville — Capture 
of Vicksburg and Port Hudson 
— Battles of Gettysburg, Chick- 
amauga, Lookout Mountain. and 
Missionary Ridge — Maximilian 
Emperor of Mexico. 



CHRONOLOGICA 



L TABLE. 



799 



1864 



1865 



1866 



1867 



1868 



1869 



1870 



1871 



1872 



JEWISH HISTORY. 



Outbreak of persecution against the Jews 
at Rome. 



Alderman Benjamin Samuel Phillips, 
second Jewish Lord Mayor of the city 
of London. 

Acts passed in England prescribing an 
oath in form unobjectionable to Jews 
to be used in Lords and Commons. 



The Right Honorable Benjamin Dis- 
raeli, Prime Minister of England ; re 
signs after being ten months in office 
is offered a peerage by the Queen 
which he accepts for his wife. 



London synagogues federated by act of 
Parliament — First Jewish newspaper 
in Australia published at Melbourne, 



Anglo-Jewish Association formed to co- 
operate with the Alliance Israelite of 
Paris. 



Israelitish Alliance founded at Vienna. 



CONTEMPORANEOUS EVENTS. 



Ulysses S. Grant, commander-in- 
chief of the Union armies — Bat- 
tles of the Wilderness, Spott- 
sylvania — Sheridan's valley 
campaign — Sherman's march 
to the sea — The Alabama sunk 
b}' the Kearsarge — Re-election 
of President Lincoln — Dyna- 
mite introduced. 

Fall of Richmond— End of the 
great civil war — Assassination 
of President Lincoln — Death of 
Lord Palmerston. 

Death of Winfield Scott— Recon- 
struction of the Southern States 
— Rome evacuated by the 
French. 

Nebraska admitted into the Union 
— Maximilian shot by the Mex- 
icans — Dominion of Canada 
constituted — The emperor of 
Austria crowned king of Hun- 
gary — Reoccupation of Rome 
by the French. 

Impeachment, trial, and acquittal 
of President Johnson — General 
U. S. Grant elected President 
of the United States— Fall of 
Queen Isabella of Spain. 

Pacific Railway completed — For- 
mal opening of the Suez Canal. 

The Fifteenth Amendment to the 
U. S. Constitution ratified by 
the States. 

Death of Gen. R, E. Lee— War 
between France and Germany 
begun — Battle of Sedan — Sur- 
render of Napoleon III. — Fall 
of the French Empire — Rome 
occupied by the Italian troops — 
The German empire proclaimed. 

Treaty between the United States 
and Great Britain — Great fire 
at Chicago — British Columbia 
united to the Dominion of Can- 
ada — King William of Prussia 
proclaimed Emperor of Ger- 
man 3' — Thiers President of the 
French Republic — Paris occu- 
pied by the Germans — Rome 
made the capital of Italy. 

Settlement of the Alabama claims 
— Re-election of Pres. Grant — 
Death of Horace Greeley. 



800 



CHKONOLOGICA 



L TABLE. 



1873 



1874 



1875 
1876 



1877 
1878 

1879 

1880 
1881 

1882 



1883 

]884 

1885 
1886 

1888 

1889 



The Right Honorable Benjamin Disraeli 
again becomes Prime Minister of Eng- 
land. 



JEWISH HISTORY. 



Privilege of citizenship granted to Jews 
in Roumania. 



Riotous opposition to Jews in Roumania 
and Berlin. 



Death of Sir Moses Montefiore. 



IUL -2 V93.-4 



CONTEMPORANEOUS EVENTS, 



Modoc war — Financial panic — Ab- 
dication of King Amadeus of 
Spain— Republican government 
in Spain — International Exhibi- 
tion at Vienna — Death of Dr. 
Livingstone. 

Death of Charles Sumner, March 
11 — Carlist war in Spain. 

Death of ex-President Johnson. 

International Exhibition at Phila- 
delphia — Massacre of G-en. Cus- 
ter by the Sioux Indians — Cele- 
bration of the completion of the 
first one hundred years of Amer- 
ican independence. 

Rutherford B. Hayes, President- 
War between Russia and Turkey . 

War between England and Af- 
ghanistan — International Exhi- 
bition at Paris. 

Resumption of specie payments 
by the United States— The Zulu 
War — MacMahon resigns the 
presidency of the French Re- 
public^ — Jules Grevy, President. 

Tenth census of the United States ; 
population 50,152,559— James 
A. Garfield elected President — 
Famine in Ireland. 

Assassination and death of Presi- 
dent Garfield — Centennial cele- 
bration at York town — Assassin- 
ation of Alexander II. , Czar of 
Russia. 

Execution of Guiteau, the assassin 
of President Garfield— Troubles 
in Ireland — Assassination of 
Lord Cavendish and Mr. Burke 
—Death of Garibaldi— Trou- 
bles in Egypt. 

Depredations committed in Eng- 
land by the use of dynamite. 

Grover 'Cleveland elected Presi- 
dent of the United States. 

President Cleveland inaugurated. 

Labor agitations throughout the 
United States. 

Benjamin Harrison elected Presi- 
dent of the United States. 

President Harrison inaugurated — 
Centennial celebration at New 
York City of the inauguration 
of George Washington. 



